# Windows Internet Name Service

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Not to be confused with WINS, a software [solution stack](/source/Solution_stack).

**Windows Internet Name Service** (**WINS**) is a Microsoft [name resolution](/source/Name_resolution_(computer_systems)) service, introduced in 1994 with [Windows NT 3.5](/source/Windows_NT_3.5), for translating [NetBIOS](/source/NetBIOS) names to [IP addresses](/source/IP_address). NetBIOS names are an older naming convention used for local name resolution before [DNS](/source/DNS) became ubiquitous. WINS is mostly unnecessary for modern networks unless legacy systems require it. The rise of DNS, especially through Microsoft's [Active Directory](/source/Active_Directory) service's DNS support, made WINS effectively obsolete by the mid-2000s. Microsoft documentation advises not to use WINS on networks not requiring it.[1]

## Details

WINS is [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft)'s implementation of the [NetBIOS Name Service](/source/NBNS) (NBNS), a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names. Effectively, WINS is to NetBIOS names what DNS is to [domain names](/source/Domain_name) — a central mapping of host names to network addresses. Like the DNS, it is implemented in two parts, a server service (that manages the [embedded Jet Database](/source/Jet_Database_Engine), server to server replication, service requests, and conflicts) and a [TCP/IP](/source/TCP/IP) client component which manages the client's registration and renewal of names, and takes care of queries.

On November 21st, 2025, Microsoft Announced that Server 2025 will be the last release to support WINS. [2]

## References

1. dknappettmsft. ["Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)"](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/wins/wins-top). *learn.microsoft.com*. Retrieved 2025-12-03.

1. ["WINS removal: Moving forward with modern name resolution - Microsoft Support"](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/wins-removal-moving-forward-with-modern-name-resolution-f00381f0-7237-4f7b-8e78-aa6f9c5b279f). *support.microsoft.com*. Retrieved 2025-11-24.

## External links

**Official sources**

- [Microsoft TechNet: Windows Internet Name Service Overview](https://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb727015.aspx) (Chapter 12 of the downloadable book "TCP/IP Fundamentals for Microsoft Windows")
- [Microsoft TechNet: WINS Technical Reference](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736411.aspx)
- [Microsoft TechNet: WINS Concepts](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc739208.aspx)
- [MSKB837391: Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server require NetBIOS name resolution for full functionality](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837391)

**Other**

- [Name Resolution](https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/ch07.html) chapter in [Using Samba](https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/toc.html) online book (also published by O'Reilly as ISBN 0-596-00256-4), which talks about WINS.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Windows Internet Name Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Internet_Name_Service) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Internet_Name_Service?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.