WINS Log files are created in incorrect locations.

A. The WINS service creates a number of log files, J50.log or J50.chk, in the %systemroot%\system32\WINS directory. This is normal.

If these files are being created in other directories then it may cause a problem and stop the WINS service from starting. The log files can be created in different directories from one of the following reasons:

• JETPACK.EXE is being run from the wrong directory. Perform running JETPACK you should always set the default directory to be %systemroot%\system32\WINS. If you don't and instead use the command
  C:\> C:\winnt\system32\jetpack.exe c:\winnt\system32\wins\wins.mdb tmp.mdb
  then the logs will be created in the wrong directory. For the correct way to perform JETPACK please see:
  Q. How can I compress my WINS database?
• The "Enable Logging" check box in WINS Administrator is not selected. This will result in the log files being created in the %systemroot%\system32 directory.

If your system now has the log files in the wrong place and the WINS service will not start just copy the log files to the %systemroot%\system32\WINS directory and restart the service

C:\> net start wins

If the WINS service is running it will lock the file and you will not be able to delete them so you should perform the following:

1. Stop the wins service
   C:\> net stop wins
2. Backup the WINS data using the Backup Database function in the WINS manager
3. Remove the files that are in the wrong directory and restore the data back to the directory
4. Run JETPACK
5. Restart the wins service
   C:\> net start wins
6. Turn on Logging Enabled (WINS Manager - Server - Configuration - Advanced)

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