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XP Pro login to Win 2000 Server

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by davidg47

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I have put together a network with 5 XP Pro client computers logging onto a Windows 2000 Server computer. I created individual accounts for each person in the "Computers and Users" section of the Active Directory. Also, the computer names are in the Computers section of the Active Directory. Even though I have the individual accounts in the Users part of the Directory, not everyone is able to log onto the network using their individual accounts. Everyone is able to log on using the Administrators account. The computers are part of the domain, otherwise even the Administrator would not be able to log onto the server. The error message I get when I try to logon to the server using the individual login accounts is: "Windows cannot connect to the domain, either because the domain controller is down or otherwise unavailable, or because your computer account was not found. Please try again later. If this message continues to appear, contact your system administrator." Can anyone please help me trouble shoot these problems?

3 replies

by lordinfidel

1) Are you *sure*/110% positive you joined the computers to the domain. This is a very specific process. You have to go into network identification, click on properties (to rename this computer or join a domain, click properties).

Select domain, and enter the domain name of the AD domain. You will then be prompted for a username and password. Use the Domain Admin U/P. You can not use the users u/p.

If you did not do the above, then your computers are not joined to the domain.

*Hint, if in your logon box on the client systems. You see a drop down menu, but only the computer name is listed. Then you are not joined to the domain.

Also if you open up Users and Computers, and you do not see any of the systems in the computers OU. Then they are not joined to the domain.

If on you netwk ident tab it says workgroup and not domain, then you are not joined to the domain.
Because Workgroup is not the same as a Domain. The computers must be joined to a domain. Have I repeated myself enough?

2) If you set your local machines administrator account to the same password as the domain administrator account. Then pass thru authentication is happening. Make sure in the drop down menu that the domain is selected and not the local machine.

3) After checking 1 & 2, did you change the DNS properties on the client machine. Changing the DNS server to point to anything other than the DNS server that AD is using, will cause logons to fail. Also DNS must be AD integrated and allow Dynamic updates.

4) If all of that has been checked. And you still can not log on. Make sure that you can ping the server via IP. Then ping it by netbios name.

If you can't ping it, make sure XP's firewall is off. Doublt check your IP settings. Make sure that you have set the subnet in AD's Sites and Services, and assigned the subnet to the domain.

by davidg47

When I first installed WinXP Pro onto this computer, in the initial setup, I gave it the information needed to join the network... the name of the "domain" and the user name and password of the person authorized to make this computer a member of the domain. It joined the domain successfully. The client computers administrator password, and the domains administrator password are the same. At one time I did change the domain's administrator password, and it didn't make any difference. The 2 computers that are having the login problems were not able to get onto the domain without the original administrator password being the same as it was. Remember, there are only 2 computers that are having trouble getting onto the domain with the individualy assigned user names and passwords. They can successfully get onto the domain with the domain administrators user name and password, so I know they are part of the domain. When I attempt to log onto the domain with their assigned user name and password, I get the error message, and can't even get on locally, it just takes me back to the login screen. So, it is something in the domain login that is preventing me from logging in to the domain.

by lordinfidel

Make sure the computer accounts are showing up in AD. If they are not then that is the issue.

When you said "log on locally". You didn't create local accounts on the local machine and then using them to log onto the domain?

Make sure that your drop down menu in the logon to domain box is set to the correct place. You do not want to logon to the local machine. You want to logon to the domain. If your drop down is set to the machine name, the logon process is going to look at the local sam/account db for the authentication. Not the DC.

If all else fails. Remove those 2 machines from the domain. Delete their computer accounts in AD. And then rejoin them to the domain.

If it makes you feel any better. XP really sucks as bad as winME when it comes to networking/domains.

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