SP4 and SP5 Winlogon Problems with Old Entries in LMHosts

Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later, installed, use entries in the LMHosts file with #PRE and will never query a WINS server. In the event that you have entries for your domain #DOM preloaded #PRE that are no longer valid, Windows NT will no longer query a WINS server to find updated entries.

In Service Pack 3, Windows NT would query a WINS server and, if an entry was not there, it would then use the entry in the LMHosts file (even if the entries were preloaded). With SP4, Windows NT will not query a WINS server. Instead it will only use the entries in the LMHosts file that have been preloaded.

To resolve this problem remove or update any outdated entries that are being preloaded in the LMHosts file.

This functionality is by design.