PCs not loading LMHOSTS into DNS cache

[candyman200]

I've got a persistant issue. There's at least 10 our our "personal PC" users that are unable to get their LMHOSTS file to be loaded. The OS is a mix of Win98SE, Win2K Pro, WinXP Home and WinXP Pro.

1) I have provided the users with a KNOWN GOOD file and it's in the correct location for the specific OS.
2) Running nbtstat -c shows NO TABLE
3) Running nbtstat -R shows successful cache load
4) Running nbtstat -c again still shows NO TABLE
5) Looking at the LAN connection TCP/IP Advanced Properties (WINS) shows "Use LMHOSTS ..." checked.

When connected thru the VPN they can ping the IP but (of course) not the name.

If I check/uncheck the "Use LMHOSTS ..." box (#5) I can duplicate the condition but in all cases so far this box is already checked.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[aznluvsmc]

Did you use the #PRE option in the file to preload the entries?

"It's about the journey and not the destination" - The quote of those who never make it

 

[candyman200]

#PRE is there and #DOM is defined too.

 

[bcastner]

See the quirks on capitalization rules, and the 20 character fixed length for Browser entries:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314108