APIPA is a great Windows feature, but there are some occasions when you may not want computers to use it.

Automatic Private IP Addressing, or APIPA as it is better known, is a feature of Windows 2000 and XP operating systems that allows for the automatic assignment of IP addresses in a network where there is no DHCP server present. APIPA automatically assigns an IP address in the class B network 169.254.0.0 when it cannot successfully obtain one from a DHCP server on a network. There are many reasons why this may happen even on a network where a DHCP server is present. These reasons include heavy traffic on the server, a system hang, or the server being offline.

For whatever reason, you may not want your networks workstations to obtain APIPA assigned addresses in these situations. This is easily fixable through a simple registry hack. To begin, open your registry editor and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTcpipParametersInterfaces. Once here, you need to simply modify the IPAutoconfigurationEnabled key to a REG_DWORD hexadecimal value of 0.

The aforementioned registry key will disable APIPA for all interfaces on a computer. If you wish to disable APIPA for only a particular number of network interfaces then you can simply browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTcpipParametersInterfacesAdapters and change the same registry key.

Remember, it is always important to backup your registry before making any major modifications.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com