hey all, im going crazy with frustration so im pleading someone to help me. I wanted to set up a domain on my new computer (athlon 900/256mb ddr/20gb) yes to you guys this comp is slow but im 15 and it only costed me 89$! anyways i tried numerous amounts of times to set up an AD Domain controller with the domain local.home When i add the users and passwords and go on the 98/2k boxes it gives me errors saying the domain does not exist! Then i said to myself screw it ill just keep my workgroup and for a couple of days it worked fine until today when i turn on my server (file server) The workstations can see each other and everyoen can ping each other (including server) but the server cant see the workstations and vice vera, also i have networked dial up and everyone has static ips and everyone on the workgroup can user the net but i need help. Here is my question "should i format my drive and put 2k/xp on and set up a workgroup? or should i set up a domain user this 2k3 server? Theonly reason i want a domain is becausde it is more secure. I can also user file permissions and such. Can someone tell me what im doing wrong or guide me to a site?? PLZ HELP ME OUT!!!! my bros and sis need their docs/musis and they're driving me nnuts!! Thx in advance!!! Darin Luckie AMD Athlon 900 256MB DDR 400 20GB hdd Windows xp professional

Unless you simply want to learn active directory and Windows 2000/2003 networking, I wouldn't go domain. There's no reason for you to run Windows 2003 Server in your network. Windows XP supports up to 10 concurrent connections to file shares. You can also set file permissions without a domain. NTFS still restricts access to files over a network as well as locally. Create user accounts for all your siblings on the computer storing the files identical to their accounts on their own machines in name and password. "Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

thanks but can i user quotas as i do with win 2k03 and is a domain REALLY more secure than a workgroup? how and whats the dif? Thx in advance!!! Darin Luckie AMD Athlon 900 256MB DDR 400 20GB hdd Windows xp professional

"can i user quotas as i do with win 2k03" Yes, with XP Pro. "domain REALLY more secure than a workgroup?" Yes, it is, but for a small network like yours, it's not significantly more secure. Domains store the account database on domain controllers. In workgroups, each machine has its own account database. Irregardless, you do not have the skills necessary to successfully maintain Active Directory, which is part of a Windows 2000/2003 domain. If you want to learn, that's fine, and go for it. If you don't want to learn it, you're going down a very painful path. For example, AD depends on DNS. How much do you know about DNS? Do you know how to setup and maintain a DNS server? Do you know how to correct problems in DNS? If something is not configured correctly in DNS, your client machines may not be able to login at all. Care to take that risk? "Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

no i dont know enough about dns or ad but i do know my school has one hell of a complicated novell network!!! I want to learn everything about ad and about win 2k03 domains and how to admin them etc etc, can anyone guide me to a website or refer me to a book or something so that i can learn??? Thx in advance!!! Darin Luckie AMD Athlon 900 256MB DDR 400 20GB hdd Windows xp professional

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0782142605/qid=1121290673/sr=8-9/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i9_xgl14/104-2748732-7456711?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Any book for the 70-290 exam should do a reasonably good job getting you started, plus help you get certified should you choose to do so. "Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

"i do know my school has one hell of a complicated novell network!!!" LOL, don't worry, it won't be novell in a few years. :-) "Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."