Joining a PDC

[nixdy 0]

Hi guys,

 

I am hoping some of you may be able to help me or at least point me in the right direction.

 

I have a small company that I run from home.

 

I have a windows NT Server v4.0 running as a PDC.

 

Most of the P.C's that I have used in the past have been NT 2000.

 

They have logged onto the PDC without a problem. However my new XP Pro P.C will not log onto the server. Is this a campatability problem?

 

Please advise.

 

Kind Regards

[GuitarGuru 0]

Nixdy,

 

Actually, I have many networks that I support that have NT 4.0 Servers and have XP Pro PC's that joined the domain with no problems and are running perfectly. So in answer to your question, yes XP Pro is compatible with NT 4.0 Server. As to why it isn't joining, I'd need more info.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Jason

[jmmijo 1]

The first thing I always do for new machines wishing to join a domain is to create the machine name/account on the PDC. Make sure the computer name on the client machine is what you want it to be first as the spelling has to be correct

 

Then use the Computer Name tab under the XP Pro machine system properties. You should see a button named Change. Click this button.

 

Near the bottom it says Member of

 

Domain

 

Workgroup

 

Click the radio button next to Domain and type in the domain name in the field and then click the OK button. There should now be a dialog box with Domain Admin account credentials for proper authentication. Type this info in and this should do it. Most likely you'll have to reboot the client machine and upon rebooting you'll need to CTRL + ALT + DEL to enter into the logon screen and get access to the domain

[nixdy 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I hav etied this but I ust get a workgroup and PDC trust error or that the PDC can't be seen.

 

But my Win2k boxes are fine.

[howard stern 0]

Ok go to the domain controller and deleted the computer account. Always join the PC to the domain from the pc itself, XP and Win 2000 joining a domain should be done from the work station there seems to be a bug in a NT 4 server while win 2000 or XP is trying to join by adding the computer name to the PDC then going to the workstation. We run into this all the time at the G.E. site i'm at.

[jmmijo 1]

Good info Howard Stern, thanks

 

I take it that this isn't an issue with a Win 2K PDC then ?!?

[clutch 1]

Quote:

Ok go to the domain controller and deleted the computer account. Always join the PC to the domain from the pc itself, XP and Win 2000 joining a domain should be done from the work station there seems to be a bug in a NT 4 server while win 2000 or XP is trying to join by adding the computer name to the PDC then going to the workstation. We run into this all the time at the G.E. site i'm at.

Bingo. I stated this once before, and got a pm from someone demanding to know why. I never, ever, ever create a machine account for a PC or member server to join. It's much better to do it from the system. However, Active Directory (Windows 2000/2003) is much better about letting systems join existing accounts than NT ever was. While it can be done in theory, the odds of it working are low with NT. However, while stern was mentioning an issue with joining 2000/XP to in this manner, I have seen it with NT clients as well, hence why I join and create the machine account at the same time from the client.

[nixdy 0]

Thanks Guys I will try this later this afternoon.

 

Great stuff.

[nixdy 0]

Hi Guys,

 

Sorry to be a pain!!

 

I delleted the system account from the PDC.

 

Went back to the XP Client box and choose to be a member of a new domain and entered the domain name. Great a UserID and Password Box appeared I entered the userid and password of a user on the PDC, Great I got a Welcome to the nixdy domain. Clicked o.k and restarted my client XP box.

 

While the box was reboooting I went back to the PDC and sure thing the XP box had re-appeared in the Server Manager.

 

Back at the XP box entered userid and password. Selected the nixdy domain. Paused for a bout 2 minuted then I got the following message.

 

The System could not log you on because the domain is unavailable. Selected o.k and tried again. I then got the following message:- Windows cannot connect to the domain, either because the domain is down or otherwise unavailable, or because your computer account was not found. Please try again later. If this message continues to appear please contact your sys admin.

 

I can still connect to the PDC through the NT machines so it's not down.

 

any thoughts ideas. Am I doing something wrong.

 

help much appreciated.

[nixdy 0]

I'm also getting a trust relationship between the Domain controller and the workstation can not be made.

[clutch 1]

Make sure that you have the client's DNS (and WINS, if appropriate) settings pointing to your DC. Make sure that the client does *not* have any other server's IP setup in its DNS and WINS settings, as this can confuse the workstation when trying to resolve DNS names. Also, make sure that the IP settings on the DC are set to point to itself (DNS and WINS entries, if WINS is being used) and use your ISP's DNS IPs as "Forwarders" for the DNS server. This will permit the DC to resolve outside (Internet and other networks outside) domain names for itself and clients.

[nixdy 0]

Hi Tried that still the same errors.

 

I have tried re-booting bothe the PDC and the XP machines but no joy

[clutch 1]

List error numbers and messages that you are receiving on both the client and server.

[nixdy 0]

The only error I'm getting is a trust relationship between the Domain controller and the workstation can not be made.

 

If I log onto the XP machine as normal and then join the domain that works fine. But as soon as I log off again and try lohgin back onto the domain I just get the same errors as before.

[clutch 1]

Are you using DHCP for the client? If so, try using a static assignment with the DNS entries pointing to your server. Windows uses "Media Sense" to detect line state, and during the boot process some adapters can be shut down when using DHCP, hence losing connectivity while the system is still negotiating its credentials with the directory.

[nixdy 0]

Hi Clutch,

 

I'm using Static I.P's across the full LAN. As I have a mixture of NT, XP and Linux.

[Aardvark1 0]

Try this...

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

If you are using Classic view in Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Local Security Policy.

 

If you are using Category view in Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Local Security Policy.

Under the Local Policies\Security Options node, double-click the Domain Member:Digitally encrypt or sign secure channel data (always) policy to open it.

Click Disabled, and then click OK.

[jimbo 0]

Don't know if this will help but it did it for me..

First have the PC's leave the domain and join a workgroup.

Reboot.

Then, on the server, in server manager delete the accounts (I know you did this already but please do it again). Then wait at least 15-20 minutes (the server can take that long to remove the machine accounts fully).

I'd also recommend running NEWSID (http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/newsid.shtml)

to change the SID and computer names so that it is impossible for the server to "remember" these machines. Reboot when Newsid tells you to.

Then go to the workstation and rejoin the domain.

 

If that doesn't work try adding Netbeui to the server (possibly run Newsid again...) temporarily, add Netbeui to the XP workstations* and remove TCP/IP from the workstations and try the above steps again.

 

Note XP doesn't come with Netbeui built in though it is on the CD. You'll need to copy two files from the CD to two directories on your system.

Go to: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/netbeui.mspx for more info.

 

If the netbeui option works for joining the domain then try removing it and adding TCP/IP back again. If you then have connection issues (connecting to domain) you have larger TCP/IP problems (could be DNS as an earlier post mentioned).

Hope this helps

[ryoko 0]

Originally posted by jimbo:

Quote:

Then, on the server, in server manager delete the accounts (I know you did this already but please do it again). Then wait at least 15-20 minutes (the server can take that long to remove the machine accounts fully).

 

You can also resync the domain to make this part MUCH faster (depending on network size). Just select the pdc in server manager, then the option will be available.