When logging into a Win2000 domain using Win2000 pro, it takes me over 20 minutes before getting to the desktop. Here is a quick breakdown of the times:

*over 5 minutes before the initial login screen goes away
*3 minutes before "loading personal settings" appears
*7 minutes before "applying personal settings" appears
*5 minutes before the desktop loads.

I have checked and re-checked my network settings, they are identical to the login server's settings (aside from the IP address, obviously!). I do have the following errors in eventvwr:

"Windows cannot query for the list of Group Policy objects . A message that describes the reason for this was previously logged by this policy engine."

and

"Could not locate the script command lines in the Group Policy Object. "

and

"Windows cannot query for the list of Group Policy objects . A message that describes the reason for this was previously logged by this policy engine."

I've searched the MS Knowledgebase and can't find anything that seems to apply to my problem. A few other things to note:

*I'm also logging into a Netware 5.1 network AFTER login. It takes less than 1 second to login and process the login script.
*I have an intel NIC card set to 100/half (it's not on autonegotiate and the switch settings are correct).
*Network speed isn't the problem, I can transfer a 500 meg file in less than 2 minutes.

If someone could help with the issue, I would be very appreciative. Feel free to post below or e-mail me directly.

I would suggest it's a combination of things. In general, logging into a domain takes longer than logging on locally (has to process the authentication request) Any login scripts and GPO's will also slow down the login procedure.

From the sounds of it, your script isn't working properly when it's being called from the GPO ("Could not locate the script command lines in the Group Policy Object.") It's possible your script is in the wrong folder (windows can't find it) or is improperly created (can't be run as is) so check those two things. Scripts must be placed in the NETLOGON folder.

Also, if you're not using settings in both parts of the GPO (computer/user) disable the unused portion of the GPO to increase login speed. By this I mean, if in your GPO you're only assigning settings to the user's and not the computers, disable the computer portion of the GPO so it's not processed at bootup.

It also sounds like you're having some GPO issues. Without sitting down at your network and looking into that, it would be very hard to diagnose. Look in Event Viewer for the aforementioned error message to try to locate the root source of the problem.

As it pertains to actually logging in, I can level a couple things to note. Namely, the protocol order will decide how "fast" a transfer is initiated in a network. Do you have TCP/IP or IPX/SPX(NWLink) as your first protocol in the binding order? Bind the most often used protocol first, and the least often used next.

Why does your Novell login take little time? It's due to the process itself. Novell just authenticates you to the network, as that's it's only job (for now). That's why it takes so little time. However, you'll notice any delay whenever you try to access any file/folder/resource because each time you want to access said events, that's where Novell takes its time to check if you have credentials to use that file/folder/resource. Each time. Win2K has a slower login process overall because at login, Win2K authenticates you locally or to the Domain, and generates a "ticket/token" that you have with you for the duration of your session. Accessing any file/folder/resource is a snap because all the info Win2K needs travels with you...kinda like ID to get into a bar. Flash it and you're in. Novell in that aspect would expect you to flash your ID every time you "want a beer", so to speak. Maybe that's a bad analogy, but it works lol.

Hope that adds to your answer, Jax.

IP is my only protocol right now, so it's not that . . . and the Novell Network is running with a full ZEN package, NDPS and quite a login script, so I'm still puzzled why Microsoft takes so freakin' long!!!