One can change the HOST resolution order for whether it should use NetBIOS or DNS first:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Services \Tcpip \Parameters]
DnsNbtLookupOrder = 0 (0 = Use DNS first; 1 = Use NetBIOS first; Default = 0)

Note this option was made available with WinNT4 SP4.

More Info MS KB171567

One can change how it should perform NetBIOS resolution (Nodetype):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Services \Netbt \Parameters]
NodeType = 1 (1= b-node; 2= p-node; 4= m-node; 8= h-node; Default=1 or 8 depending on WINS available)

More Info MS KB142692
More Info MS KB160177

One can configure whether it should use DNS and HOSTS-file at all with this DWORD:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Services \Netbt \Parameters]
EnableDNS = 0 (Default = 1)

Related Description of Host Name Resolution Order