Yeah. Im trying to set up a server at home for the first time.. I've set up the Active Directory, DHCP & DNS. I thought I set it up correctly... but obviously not. When I try to connect a client computer (Windows 7) to the domain i get the following error.. "The following error occurred attempting to join the domain "cluster": An attempt to resolve the DNS name of a domain controller in the domain being joined has failed. Please verify this client is configured to reach a DNS server that can resolve DNS names in the target domain. For information about network troubleshooting, see Windowa Help.

do an ipconfig /all at the pc. Is the dns server ip listed that of the DC?

This is from the client computer. I hope this what you meant. Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7100] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\Clarkee>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Clarkee-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-54-25-78-68 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::981b:fd5e:6eb:5924%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 18 September 2009 17:06:15 Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 19 September 2009 18:09:28 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890068 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-11-9D-C1-0E-00-23-54-25-78-68 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Tunnel adapter isatap.{3ECE785C-95BF-43F2-ABA0-C253E89F1C00}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:d5c7:a2d6:184a:20a7:adf8:d676(Pref erred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::184a:20a7:adf8:d676%12(Preferred) Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : :: NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes C:\Users\Clarkee>

See that entry for dns at 192.168.1.1? That is your router not your dns server. Either disable dhcp on the router and have the server dhcp provide ip with the correct settings or change the dhcp on the router. You want dns to be your dc's ip address when you do an ipconfig /all

ok i've sorted that. i disabled DHCP on the router and now its pointing to the server. now when i try to connect to the domain it says access is denied. even though ive allowed the computer on the AD and made a user account on the AD ive tried restarting the server but it still doesnt work.. im confused.# help please

"even though ive allowed the computer on the AD " that doesn't sound right. You have to join the pc to the domain. How are you doing that? What account are you using to do so? Did you activate dhcp? what ip for dns does the workstation have?