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machine won't add to domain

By pr0teus ·
Hope I can get some quick ones for this one.

I had this problem b4 and did what I HATE to do as a solution - reformatted windows. I hate doing it because I believe everything has a solution, time was of the essence then (as it is now) but I have no intention of resorting to that.

I upgraded a PDC for a medium sized biz (finally convinced them to get the Win2k3) from win2k server. All machines have been re-added to domain seamlessly except one (and yes, all users and computers are set up in 'AD users and computers')

Of course, I had to log on locally onto the machines (i.e. log into "this computer" since the old domain no longer existed - changed the Domain name, long story) but adding them to the domain was no problem for both win2kpro and winXP machines. This troublemaker is a win2k pro (older) machine, and it keeps telling me it cannot find the specified domain ("does not exist, or not connected"). To cover some of the basics, the domain does exist - that much I have been able to establish :}, the machine in question is physically connected to the network (cable ok & NIC ok). Why would I be getting this error, and how can it be resolved (the login used has administrator privileges, and in any event it does eventually ask for a user with rights to add the machine to the domain, but I don't even get that far!)

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First steps

by wchaster In reply to machine won't add to doma ...

Logon locally with an Admin account to the workstation. Then in the properties of My Computer add the computer to a workgroup, like badcomps. The shut down the workstation.
On the Domain controller make sure there is no computer account for this win2k workstation; if there is delete it. Refresh the domain list and then create a computer account for this machine.
Boot the win2k workstation and go back into the properties and join it to the domain.

Also try searching Microsofr Technet for "join a windows 2000 to 2003 domain"

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Ping

by Roger99a In reply to First steps

You can ping the domain controller, right? The system has all it's updates and is virus and spyware free? You could also try renaming it or even sysprep it to remove the SID.

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tried it...

by pr0teus In reply to First steps

Alas! No luck.

Take a look at the reply I posted to johnny -->

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DNS

by me132365496351 In reply to First steps

Did you try to flush DNS?
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns

That worked for me on trouble machines. Sure sounds like a DNS issue to me.

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networking

by wkim1 In reply to machine won't add to doma ...

You could also make sure that the computer you are on can see the pdc ping with ip and name that way you?ll rule out any dns issues, I?ve had this problem before and I realized that the comp was not seeing the pdc. Other than that what the previous guy said is the other thing I would do.

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You're not making any sense.

by johnnywatt In reply to machine won't add to doma ...

I can't clearly get an idea of your network. Your sentence, "I upgraded a PDC for a medium sized biz (finally convinced them to get the Win2k3) from win2k server", does not make sense. Upgrading a PDC to Windows 2000 Active Directory would make sense, but not upgrading a PDC from a Windows 2000 Server.
It's obvious you are running AD, but you should clearly state you steps. Now the follow sentence, "All machines have been re-added to domain seamlessly except one (and yes, all users and computers are set up in 'AD users and computers')", doesn't make any correlation with your previous sentence. If you truly upgraded your PDC, or Windows NT Domain, to AD properly, you would not have to rejoin any computers. What exactly did you do and did you do it properly?
Let's assume you created a new AD Domain and REJoined all your workstations. On this "problem computer", please use ipconfig through a command prompt to view it's NIC configurations. Your NIC may be ok through your Device Manager, but does it have the correct TCP/IP Settings? Do you run DHCP? I would hope so. Does it have all the proper TCP/IP settings, like, DHCP, DNS Servers? Do you run WINS?
If all of your TCP/IP settings are current, then try accessing the Domain Controller using a UNC path, such as, \\ServerDC1. Can you access this DC? Is it online and DNS is working?
Your root of the problem may exist in the paragraphs above that I mentioned.
If NIC is ok, then do what was mentioned in a previous post; Join the PC to a workgroup; Rename workstation; Log on as local Administrator and join the Domain.

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ok johnny, slowly now....

by pr0teus In reply to You're not making any sen ...

Alright, I'm just kidding - I may not have represented the situation quite accurately. So I'll try to be more clear.

In essence it was not a 'true upgrade' because I did change the domain name (I'm sure I mentioned that) which is the reason for me re-adding all machines. I did try what was suggested earlier (change workstation name, change workgroup - no cigar!). Cables tested - they're ok.

But here's what I found!

Workstation can ping server, but the server can't ping the workstation (not a firewall problem - I checked that). I did go as far as to manually put in the WINS and DNS server config in workstation tcp/ip settings. Nada!

When I do change the workgroup on the workstation, the server (and other machines) sees the workgroup .

Hope that was a bit more coherent.

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Sorry man...

by johnnywatt In reply to ok johnny, slowly now....

I must be having a bad week.

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WINS Settings

by dharmon In reply to machine won't add to doma ...

Check the WINS server settings on the work-station and make sure it is pointing to your network's WINS server

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Wrong forum

by deepsand In reply to machine won't add to doma ...

This is a tech. problem, in search of a solution.

It properly belongs in "Technical Q&A," not in "Discussions."

Please re-post there.

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