How to disable Dynamic DNS updates in Windows 2000 and XP Professional

Dynamic DNS updates are used in a Microsoft Active Directory network to update a table of machine names and the IP addresses that Windows 2000 and XP Professional computers receive. However, they are not useful if your computer is being used on a network that does not utilize Microsoft Active Directory services. Because this setting causes unnecessary traffic on the network, we recommend turning it off if it's not needed.

Using a .REG file to disable this setting for Windows XP/2000

Please download the file here. We recommend saving this file to your desktop first, then importing it to your registry. If you've saved the .reg file to your Windows desktop, double click on the file to run it. Windows will display a confirmation box similar to the following screen:

The only setting in this file is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
"DisableDynamicUpdate"=dword:00000001

Click on the Yes button to import the registry settings into your computer. You will need to restart your computer before the settings will be in effect.

How to manually change this setting

Windows XP Professional

1. Click on the Start button and choose the Control Panel.
2. Click on Network and Internet Connections.
3. Click on Network Connections.
4. Right click on the Local Area Connection and choose "Properties" from the menu that appears.

5. Follow steps 2 through 7 listed below under Windows 2000.

Windows 2000

1. Right click on the Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop and choose Properties from the menu.

2. Scroll down through the list of components and click to highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)". Click on the Properties button.

3. Click on the Advanced button towards the bottom right corner.

4. Click on the tab labeled "DNS".

5. Uncheck the box called "Register this connections with DNS".

6. Click on OK to save the setting. Click on OK to close the Properties box. Click Close to close the Local Area Connection properties box.
7. The setting will take effect after the computer has been restarted.

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Last updated: Oct 21, 2005 (02:47:59 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.clasnet.ufl.edu/computers/self-maintained/disdyndns.shtml