Win2K Server / Win2K Pro WkStn

[pc tech 282]

I am having a problem joining a win2k pro wkstn to our doamin. Our PDC is a Win2K Server, and the rest of our clients are Win 98 machines.

I get the error message "network path not found" after entering the domain name. I am using the Administrators account for the server, so permissions I believe ar enot an issue.

If I join the "workgroup" i can see and access all network shares, except for the server itself (which I can only after supplying the admin password).

HELP !! Pulling what little hair I have left out!! <IMG SRC="smilies/mad.gif" border="0">

[ShadowKing]

I am assuming that you have run dcpromo on the server, which sets up active directory.

If you haven't then you don't have a domain, just a workgroup.

You must make the server a Domain Controller before a domain exists...

[pc tech 282]

your assumptions are correct... I have run dcpromo, and Active Directory is alive and (assumably)well...the Win98 clients are all authenticated at login and login script is processed...

[ShadowKing]

Sounds like a DNS issue.

Make sure that the AD server is your DNS server, that way it will be able to find the domain.

I would probably bet that if you typed:
ping {insert your domain name here}
It would say destination host unreachable.
If worst comes to worst, you could edit the lmhosts file and add the domain as a record and with the IP of the server.

But FIRST make sure your DNS servers are correct. If you are using DHCP, then I would take a look at the settings on the DHCP server, so you won't have this problem on all of the Win2k boxes.

If you are using a static IP, make sure the DC is listed in the DNS servers list. (All DCs in an AD domain are automatically DNS servers - AD will not function without DNS)

[Ron Prestenback]

Actually, all DC's in an AD domain are not, by default, DNS servers. While it is true that Active Directory will not function without DNS, that is where the stipulation ends. If you have a PDC and a DNS server already set up in an NT domain, and you want to upgrade that PDC to a Win2K DC (or any other combination of bringing Win2K Server into an existing domain), then you *would* have to install Active Directory (during installation, or using DCPromo), but during the installation of Active Directory, the only time it will tell you that you must install DNS is if it can't find an existing DNS server.

[Ron Prestenback]

Oh yeah...hehe.
PC Tech 282: Your problem is most likely the name you're using for the domain when you are trying to join. For instance, if, on my Server, I name the domain "company.domain.com", then when you type in the domain to join, type in "company"
After that, it will probably say that it could not find an account for your computer on the domain, and will ask you for the password of a person authorized to join this computer to a domain. You will have to enter the userid and password of someone you have configured in Domain Security Policies to have "Add computers to this domain" privledges. The Domain Administrator will, by default, have this privledge, so you can enter his id and passwd, or, if security is a big factor, you can give that permission to the domain account for whatever username you are using to log into the Pro machine, then take it away as soon as his machine is in. DNS could be the culprit, but if so, you would probably have seen other signs of it. Same thing with DHCP. The fact that you can share files, see each other in My Network Places, and ping by name leads me to believe that you are not using the NetBIOS name of the domain when you are trying to join it.