I am trying to connect my 2 virtuale machines in VMWARE program one of them is Windows 2003 server R2, i made it as domain controller, DHCP, DNS, server, and the other virtual machine is Win XP sp2 i am trying to join it to the domain but i can't because it's taking its ip address from VMWARE's DHCP server and when i try to join the domain i get the following error "Access Denied" any help pls?

Either the Windows 2003 must be configured to have an ip address of the range, used by VMware, or your must assign ip addresses manually. It also depends on how the virtual NICs are configured in VMware (bridged, NAT, host only or user defined). Paul

i have assigned a static ip address for win server 2003, and i have tried all types of VMWARE connections (bridged, NAT, host only or user defined)but still can't join the domain, pls help it's ugent how i could make network between the 2 new virtual machiens i ping them and there is no reply.

The "Access Denied" error message is a rights issue. When attempting to join the client to the domain, are you using an account with privelages to do so? Also, the client's DNS address must point at the server's IP in order to connect and authenticate to it.

Yes the account i am using does have privelages to join the domain, and regarding the DNS address the client must be able to ping the domain wich i think this is the main problem, the client is taking its ip address from the VMWARE's DHCP server wich it's wrong

E.g. ping yourdomain.com and ping 192.168.0.10 (your servers ip address) must function !!! When opening a dos box at the workstation and do an IPCONFIG /ALL, what does it show. Does the ip address match the range of the servers ip? Is the DNS server correct? Paul

If your server is also a DHCP server, disable the DHCP service of VMware. Then reboot the workstation or do an ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew Paul