i am trying to setup 2003 domain and have windows xp machines connect to it but i get cannot find domain vei my current setup this time is linksy wrt54g router with dhcp turned off the workstation i have static ip with these settings ip=192.168.1.102 sub net= 255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.1.1 dns=192.168.1.101 dns=167.206.245.79 now what settings should i have on the server prior to selecting add new role and begin adding a domain controller the settings i have currently is static ip with these settings ip=192.168.1.101 sub net=255.255.255.0 gatway=192.168.1.1 dns=192.168.1.101 dns=167.206.245.79 what should i do next in order to have a domain controller named VEI

Remove the dns entry for what looks like the ISP's DNS server. Setup forwarding on the 2003 DNS server to the ISP's DNS. Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina. www.redcross.org

ok im a bit confused sounds like youre telling em to remove the dns thats pointed to the isp dns but to foward it to the dns of the isp isnt that the same thing? im here scratching my head trying to get this to work

web search microsoft dns for more details. Here's the deal. MS DNS when you bring it up as a dc wants to write entries to the zone information. It can't do that you your isps dns server and your install will fail/be corrupt. In MS dns you have a forwarder tab. This is where you put in the isps dns server. All workstations point to the 03 dns server for dns NOT the isp. name resolution requests go to the ms dns server which then forwards them to the isps dns if it can't resolve. Golly gee wilerkers everyone! Learn to Internet Search

ok i understand now but one last question suppose that you chose not to have the cable modem running and instead just have the linksys router connetiing all pc's but the actual router is not connected to any dsl or cable line so that way there is no possibility of pulling a dns entry for an isp then how will this affect the machines from seeing the server?