I had to check which it was. It's Windows Server 2003.

What kind of details about the network did you have in mind? It's half a
dozen XP Pro boxes connected through a Linksys router, nothing fancy, it's
the kind of thing one might buy at Staples or Office Depot for a home
network. It does have wireless capability, but none of the computers in the
domain are actually connected that way, thank goodness. The router is taking
care of DHCP dynamically, and pointing everything towards the ISP's DNS. The
server does have a static IP, but it is the only one. Not really sure what
other details are relevant here, I hope I hit the important points.

I had to point Vista at the Domain Controller for its DNS to get it to
connect to the Domain, and it does seem to be properly forwarding DNS
lookups, because I can still surf the web and whatnot. The Vista laptop does
not seem to be able to access shared printers or anything on any of the
other computers on the network. I can access the file shares on the server
if I use the IP address rather than the name. I can access some, but not
all, if I use the name. The XP Pro boxes seem to all be sharing with each
other without trouble, even being pointed at the outside DNS.

I have considered, with as few users as they have, whether just turning
it into a Workgroup might be the easiest solution. Everyone on the network
is in the same Group anyway, it's not like they have users in different
groups with access to different things. It doesn't seem like they're really
taking advantage of the fact that it is setup as a domain. Would changing it
to a Workgroup decrease network performance? I'm not sure if that's the
answer, but it seemed like an option worth exploring. If it will hurt
performance, then it certainly isn't the answer.

I discussed with them the idea of getting someone in who has experience
setting up DNS on an Active Directory Domain Controller, but I suspect that
it will be up to me in the end, so anything you can tell me about it, or if
you can point me towards a good online tutorial, I'd appreciate it.


"Kerry Brown" <kerry@kdbNOSPAMsys-tems.c*a*m> wrote...[color=blue]
> You're welcome. Is the server Windows Server 2003 or Windows Small
> Business Server 2003? Both are fairly easy to get DNS configured but the
> procedure is different. Post back with some details about how the network
> is set up and we can help you.
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience: Systems Administration
> [url]http://www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2/[/url][/color]