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Adding Windows 2000 to a Domain

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6 replies

by bryant_sousa

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When I go to add a Windows 2000 machine to a domain on my network, it tells me the domain is invalid. I configured other machines the same way and they worked. Is there anything on 2000 that I can use to force a machine on a domain?

6 replies

by gary chromacomp

No. You can not for security reason "force" a machine onto a domain. Are you trying to put the machine on onto a domain with a 2000 PDC? If so you need active directory and DNS installed on one machine. Also Windows 2000 has a domain naming that says everying thing should end in .com or . something. So if you have a domain called timecube in the 2000 domain eyes it really is timecube.com. As for trying to get your machine on, make sure it has the correct dns server, also maybe you might want totry to add a wins server to connect backwards. Finally, try installing Netbeiu on the machine and see if that works.

by william jay

One can force win2k to BE a domain, but there is no way to force it to join a domain. Since you have joined other machines to the network, there must be something different about this one. Look again, you will find it.
Have you got a mixed environment with NT4? And you say a domain, got more than one? ...

by william jay

It's hard enough with a single domain sometimes, to keep the ins and outs and protocols humming along in parallel. Mixing NT4 and NT5 has it's own set of peculiarities too, but eventually things will get sorted out.

It sounds like a mis-communication among protocols. Mixed protocol environments are a joy or a curse sometimes, depending on what needs to be done and how. Tcp-ip may rely on DHCP, DNS, and other services; NetBIOS may rely on DHCP, WINS, DNS, and other services: and each protocol in their own way ...

For instance: If the machine in question was upgraded from NT4 to Win2K in order to keep the user settings, and the domain or workgroup re-created in the meantime, then no amount of correcting the settings will accomplish the goal. In such a case, one needs to get the Win2K machine to start up normally, without looking for authentication, and then join the new domain, (or workgroup as indicated), for the first time.

NT4 has the facility for one network card to have several ip adresses concurrently; in tcp-ip it can mean more names too, but in Windows Networking the machine belongs to only one domain or workgroup at a time, though it can partipate with many. So even the term 'domain' will mean a different thing according to context and protocol and the particular network setup you want to create.

You have the benefit of being up close and personal with the systems and of having a pretty good idea what needs to be the result. Even were I to list the recommended steps to follow, something might be lost in the translation to your experience, with only more frustration for all. I would very much like to be able to just give 'the' answer, but there are likely to be three or more worth considering, as it is mainly software issues now.

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