The DNS client in Windows Vista incorrectly creates a negative DNS cache entry for the NetBIOS name of a remote host

On a Windows Vista-based computer, the DNS client incorrectly creates a negative DNS cache entry for the NetBIOS name of a remote host. This problem occurs when the client computer is configured to use multiple DNS suffixes. When this problem occurs, you may experience the following symptoms:

• The Windows Vista-based computer cannot access the remote host by using the NetBIOS name.
• The NetBIOS name of the remote host cannot be resolved as expected. However, the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the remote host can be resolved correctly.
• If you run the ipconfig /displaydns command to display the content of the DNS resolver cache, the command output indicates that a negative DNS cache entry was created for the NetBIOS name of the remote host.
• This problem disappears after you run the ipconfig /flushdns command on the computer. However, the next time that the remote host name is resolved, the incorrect negative DNS cache entry appears again.

A typical scenario of this problem occurs when you enable automatic enrollment for certificates in an Active Directory domain environment. This problem causes automatic enrollment to occasionally fail on the Windows Vista-based client computer. Additionally, the following event is logged in the Application log on the client computer:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: AutoEnrollment
Event Category: None
Event ID: 13
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: Computer
Description:
Automatic certificate enrollment for Local system failed to enroll the CertType certificate from CA-name (The RPC server is unavailable. 0x800706ba (WIN32: 1722)).

This problem occurs because an error occurs in the DNS client if the DNS suffix of the client computer differs from the DNS suffix of the remote host.

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows Vista. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Windows Vista, 32-bit versions

Windows Vista, 64-bit versions

To work around this problem, add an entry for the remote host to the Hosts file on the client computer. The Hosts file is located in the following folder:For more information about the Hosts file, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about how to modify the Hosts file in Windows Vista, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

The following details refer to the issue with certificate enrollment.

Windows Vista uses Task Scheduler (Taskeng.exe) to obtain the new certificate from the CA server by using a remote procedure call (RPC) connection. To create the RPC connection, the system must resolve the CA server name to an IP address. If the DNS suffix of the client computer differs from the DNS suffix of the CA server, the system may create a negative cache entry for the NetBIOS name of the CA server. In this situation, the client computer cannot contact the CA server because the system cannot resolve the CA server name.

To enable automatic certificate enrollment, follow these steps:

1. Create a computer certificate template.
2. Configure the Autoenrollment Settings Group Policy setting to Enroll certificates automatically.

For more information about automatic enrollment in Microsoft Windows Server 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:For more information about how to configure the client computer to use multiple suffixes, visit the following Microsoft Web site:For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: