Hi all, has anyone encountered the following problem.

I recently purchased and installed a server (MS SBS 2003). This server is the Domain Controller. I have several windows xp sp2 workstations running on a LAN. I changed workstation 1 from the MSHOME workgroup to the new Domain. Now whenever I restart this workstation it goes into limbo for about 30 minutes.

Windows starts up fine, you are presented with the desktop as per usual, however you can't do anything. When I place the cursor over the taskbar I get an hour glass. There are no unusual processes running and the CPU is 99% idle. However nothing will open or run. Eventually after a period of around 20 - 30 minutes all the processes startup as usual and the workstation is fine.

Any ideas?

When you joined it to the domain did you first ensure it's IP settings were correct? The most important one being the DNS address. This has to point at the DC in order to authenticate.

The only time I've seen the behaviour you describe is when either:
a) The DNS server is not correctly configured
or
b) The client DNS address isn't pointing at the DC

Problem solved. The DNS IP address on the problem machine was not pointing at the Domain Controller. Once I changed this and restarted the workstation the problem did not occur.

A big thanks to Curt R for his assistance.

Great news!

I have to admit, like so many of life's lessons, that's one I learned the hard way....which is why I remembered the anwer off the top of my head so well.......LOL

Thanks for getting back to us here and letting us know what worked. You never know, it may just help someone else solve their problem.