DNS Events 5501, 5000, and 9999 Fill Up the Event Log

SYMPTOMS If you have the Domain Name System (DNS) service installed on your computer, one or more of the following event error messages may appear in the event log: Event 5501 Source: DNS Description: DNS Server encountered bad packet from IP Address. Packet processing leads beyond packet length. Event 5000 Source: DNS Description: DNS Server is logging numerous run-time events. This is usually caused by the reception of bad or unexpected packets, or from problems with or excessive replication traffic. See previous event log entries for information about bad packet source. Now suppressing event logging for these events. Event 9999 Source: DNS Description: DNS Server has encountered numerous run-time events. These are usually caused by the reception of bad or unexpected packets, or from problems with or excessive replication traffic. The data is the number of suppressed events encountered in the last 15-minute interval. CAUSE The occurrence of these event error messages does not necessarily indicate a problem with the DNS service. Event 5501 indicates that after sending a recursive query on behalf of a client, DNS received a response with a fragmented flat set indicating that the answer did not fit in one packet and that there is more data to follow. In versions of Windows NT 4.0 earlier than Service Pack 4 (SP4), DNS incorrectly discards the packet. Windows 2000 behaves correctly in this case. Event 5000 indicates that DNS is not going to continue logging the warning events that are filling up the event log. Event 9999 indicates the number of events DNS blocked from being logged in Event Viewer, and then the logging of those events starts again. RESOLUTION WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To resolve this problem in Windows NT 4.0, install SP4 or later. To adjust the level of DNS logging in Event Viewer, use the registry key listed below. NOTE: In Windows NT 4.0, SP4 or later is required for this key to work.

Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters Value: EventLogLevel Type: REG_DWORD Data values: 0 - Event logging disabled 1 - Only error events 2 - Warning and error events 4 - Information, warning, and error events For example, if the data value is set to 1, no warning or information events are logged.

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