ok iam having trouble setting up a small domain to demonstrate DFS. i have installed windows server 2003 standard on to two computers and windows 2000 onto the desktop which will act as the client. I have setup one of the 2003 servers as a domain controller using active directory and i wish to set up the other server as a second domain controller as well as a file server, now here is the problem, when i attempt to join the seccond server to the domain it asks me to "please enter the username of a user who has permission to access this domain" so i enter a user that i have created on the first server and get an error message sayin "the specified user already exists" now this is very starage to me because if i try and connect to the domain with the client computer i can do it, using the same username that gives me the error with the seccond server.. it works fine... the user that i have created on the first server is part of the administrators group, and has all the correct security settings and rights... i need to connect the seccond server to the domain before i configure it as a domain controller and file server as i need to document the process... so can anyone steer me in the right direction or give me any clues as to what i'm doing wrong? thanks alot

Are you using the wizard? Try to join the server manually. (start\run\control panel\system\computer name\change) Is the account you’re using member of the domain or enterprise admin group?

When you go to "Change" click on the "More" button and add the DNS suffix of your domain, then on the "Change" window, add the domain name after clicking the "domain" radio button. Also, ensure your DNS setting in TCP/IP is pointing at the DNS server for your domain.

thanks for your help but i still get the same :specified user alrady exists" error, i have tried to join it to the domain using the wizard and manually and still no luck, all the I.P address look fine to me as well.. The user is a member of the enterprise admin, administrators groups as well as a few other groups that i thought might make a difference but still same error.. any other suggestions??

maybe I am missing something but it sure sounds like you are trying to add the server to the domain not make this server a DC. This being the case the account on your server and the same account name on the DC would appear to be the same name to 03. Create an account on the DC called Install with full domain admin rights and use it to connect to the dc from this server. Do NOT create Install on this unDC server. If you want this server to be a DC you have to run DCPROMO on it.