Home Edition - No way to connect to a DOMAIN

[Guest]

A user on our network got a new laptop for Christmas and wants to work from
home. She brought the laptop into work and when I went to add it to the
Domain there was no option for that - Connect to Workgroup is our only
option. This is ridiculous. Someone said there is a download for this but I
can't find it in the maze of support sights at Microsoft. Do any one of you
know where I can get this?

 

[Wiley Coyote]

Try this link: http://vowe.net/archives/001639.html

It worked for me on three machines.

Wiley

 

[Ron Sommer]

Upgrade to XP Pro.
There is no download to allow XP Home to connect to a domain.

 

[Guest]

Windows XP Home Edition lacks the advanced networking
capabilities to join a domain. Inform the user that an
upgrade to Windows XP Professional is required.

 

[Leythos]

Try this link: http://vowe.net/archives/001639.html

It worked for me on three machines.

And you could have done the same with a simple batch file. The program
only maps resources with network shares based on a user account existing
in the domain and it's password.

Look up NET USE and how to use it.

I run Win XP Prof, in a Workgroup setup, and still use Domain Resources
at clients because I have a domain account/password and use the NET USE
command in a batch file to map their resources (even printers on the
network work).

Sheesh, why pay for something that Windows XP Home already permits.

XP Prof is the proper method, as it will allow the domain admin to
control the laptop.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

A user on our network got a new laptop for Christmas and wants to
work from home. She brought the laptop into work and when I went to
add it to the Domain there was no option for that - Connect to
Workgroup is our only option. This is ridiculous.

Ridiculous? Why? The reason XP Home is cheaper than XP Professional is that
it doesn't contain all of Professional's features. One of the major missing
features in XP Home is the ability to join a domain. Since most home users
don't need to join a domain, it's fine for them. Your user would seem to
need XP Professional.

Someone said there
is a download for this but I can't find it in the maze of support
sights at Microsoft. Do any one of you know where I can get this?

"Someone" is wrong. There's no download that permits XP Home to join a
domain.

 

[Leythos]

Ridiculous? Why? The reason XP Home is cheaper than XP Professional is that
it doesn't contain all of Professional's features. One of the major missing
features in XP Home is the ability to join a domain. Since most home users
don't need to join a domain, it's fine for them. Your user would seem to
need XP Professional.




"Someone" is wrong. There's no download that permits XP Home to join a
domain.

It was a BS tool that does what the rest of us do when not joined to a
domain - we connect using NET USE with a domain account user/password.

 

[andre]

Ridiculous? Why?
Every version of windows since WFW3.11 could sign onto a domain. Why not XP?
To argue that these often re-used networking components are worth an extra
$100 IS Ridiculous!

It's ALL about the getting the corporate $'s.

 

[Bob I]

Or to cut the home user a break? Oops, the old money grubber is going soft?

Every version of windows since WFW3.11 could sign onto a domain. Why not XP?


To argue that these often re-used networking components are worth an extra
$100 IS Ridiculous!

It's ALL about the getting the corporate $'s.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

You don't need that crap. If you know a thing or two about networking
then you can make home edition do what you want it to do like you do in
a Professional environment. Security may be an issue but networking is
not a problem as such.

If Win98SE or WinME can do then so could XP Home.

 

[Ron Martell]

Every version of windows since WFW3.11 could sign onto a domain. Why not XP?

Wrong.

Only NT based versions of Windows can join a domain. Windows 3.x and
Windows 9x versions can log onto shared resources but cannot join the
domain.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Every version of windows since WFW3.11 could sign onto a domain. Why
not XP?

Those didn't come in Home and Professional versions.

To argue that these often re-used networking components are worth an
extra $100 IS Ridiculous!

Whether the differences are worth the cost depends on the user, and what's
important to him. In fact I usually argue that the Home version is
sufficient for most Home users and there's no need for them to spend the
extra money for .Professional.

It's ALL about the getting the corporate $'s.

If Microsoft had elected to have only a single version instead of
Professional and Home, certainly it would have had all the features of
Professional. What do you think they would have charged for it--the
Professional price or the Home price? My guess is that it would be the
Professional price. If I'm right about that, and you're right that an extra
$100 is too much to pay for the extra features in Professional, then all
those millions of Home users are getting a real bargain.

 

[andre]

Wrong! Ever seen Win98 login into a NT4/2000 Domain - there where many. And
Win95 and WFW too.

 

[andre]

So the effort to remove it from Home was worth $100???

 

[andre]

Just to close out my rant... I think Microsoft made a bad decision here. The
idea of a HOME Server using Roaming Profiles has much applicability today,
now that many homes have multiple PCs. They could have fostered the idea of
a Home server but went for the $'s.

I also think Microsoft did its user-base a disservice when people bought
Laptop's, by the droves with Home, only to find them crippled when they
chose to take them to work. And who then need to shell out the full-upgrade
price to get those capabilities.

For XP the only reason for Pro/Home is the $'s! The component cost between
the two(Domains & better NTFS) is negligible.

Every version of windows since WFW3.11 could sign onto a domain. Why not
XP?
To argue that these often re-used networking components are worth an extra
$100 IS Ridiculous!

It's ALL about the getting the corporate $'s.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

A user on our network got a new laptop for Christmas and wants to work from
home. She brought the laptop into work and when I went to add it to the
Domain there was no option for that - Connect to Workgroup is our only
option. This is ridiculous.

Why is it ridiculous? It sounds like it's working properly. Ask your
IT department; they'll explain to your that WinXP Home is not designed
to, nor can it truly be made to, join a domain. Nor does it allow the
same sort of seamless access provided by Win9x, although domain
resources can be manually accessed by properly authenticated users.

Someone said there is a download for this but I
can't find it in the maze of support sights at Microsoft. Do any one of you
know where I can get this?

You'd have to ask your original source for the location of this
fictional "download." Again, consult the trained professionals in your
IT department.


Windows XP Comparison Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Which Edition Is Right for You
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Wrong! Ever seen Win98 login into a NT4/2000 Domain - there where many. And
Win95 and WFW too.

You clearly do not know what a true domain is. Granted, properly
authenticated users of Win9x PCs can access domain resources, but the
computers themselves cannot ever become part of the domain.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Kerry Brown]

No it wasn't. It is called marketing. Does it cost $500.00 more to produce a
32 inch TV over a 19 inch TV? Does it cost $20,000.00 more to produce a
Cadillac over a Malibu? That's the way the free market works. You charge
according to what the market will bear and how many you will sell at a
cerain price point, not what the product is worth. Pricing of any product is
usually based on many things other than the cost of producing it.

Kerry