choose NetBIOS name of Windows 11 computer

Question

I want to rename a few computers to Windows-testserver-1, Windows-testserver-2 etc. and know where to do that (Advanced System settings) but for Windows-testserver-1, it assigned a NetBIOS name automatically - Windows-testser (first 15 characters of the computer name).

When I try to rename the second computer to Windows-testserserver-2, then it says that a computer with that name already exists. The reason is that it wants to change its NetBIOS name to Windows-testser too, and that exists already in our domain indeed.

Does anyone know a way of choosing your own NetBIOS name?

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Settings***

Answer 1

Hello,

If the machine has been added to the domain, the full name of the computer will be suffixed with the domain name. When modifying the NetBIOS name, you must ensure that the new name is unique in the domain. It is recommended that you open Windows Server Manager in the domain controller, select the "Tools" menu, and then select "Active Directory Users and Computers". Find the computer container to check whether there is a NetBIOS conflict.

Best Regards

Zunhui

Answer 2

Hi Zunhui,

Thanks but I'm aware of that and want it to be unique. My question is "how to choose the NetBIOS name?".

When renaming a computer, one can change the "normal" name but Windows simply takes the first 15 characters as NetBIOS name and I cannot see any way to control that.

Peter

Answer 3

Hi Peter,

Thank you for your reply. I suggest that you open the registry editor, navigate to the location as shown below, double-click the computer name, modify the computer name, and save.

Note If you modify the registry incorrectly, you can cause serious problems. Therefore, follow these steps carefully. For additional protection, back up the registry before you modify it. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

Best Regards

Zunhui

Answer 4

Hello,

15 characters is a limitation of Netbios or rather the RFCs; RFC1001 and RFC1002. ([MS-NBTE]: NetBIOS Name Syntax | Microsoft Learn)

Name computers, domains, sites, and OUs - Windows Server | Microsoft Learn

NetBIOS computer names

• Allowed characters: NetBIOS computer names can contain all alphanumeric characters except for the extended characters that appear in the following Disallowed characters list. Names can contain a period, but names can't start with a period.

Note

Microsoft Windows NT allows non-DNS names to have period. Periods shouldn't be used in Windows. If you're upgrading a computer whose NetBIOS name contains a period, change the computer name. For more information, see Special characters later in this section.

• Disallowed characters: NetBIOS computer names can't contain the following characters:
  • backslash ()
  • slash (/)
  • colon (:)
  • asterisk (*)
  • question mark (?)
  • quotation mark (")
  • less than sign (<)
  • greater than sign (>)
  • vertical bar (|)
  • Computers that are members of an Active Directory domain can't have names that contain only numerals. This is a DNS restriction.
  For more information about the NetBIOS name syntax, see NetBIOS name syntax.
• Name length rules:
  • Minimum name length: One character
  • Maximum name length: 15 characters

Note

The 16th character of a NetBIOS computer name is reserved for identifying the functionality that is installed on the registered network device.

Answer 5

Thanks but that doesn't change the computername in Active Directory so when this computer restarts after renaming it, it cannot find the trust relationship with AD.