Windows 2000 Server locks up at boot time

[Tim]

Hello folks,

on Friday I installed a new NIC in my Windows 2000 Server (w/ SP4) PDC.
The new NIC worked (though not connected to a network) fine, no crashes, no
lock ups... Nothing. A reboot after setting up the driver etc. went through
without any error.

Today I wanted to change a few settings in the GPO, but couldn't - as the
GPOs weren't availible?! (PDC couldn't be found... Or something like that) I
decided to reboot, but I couldn't get the machine back up again. It always
locks up (I can still use the mouse) while "Preparing network connections".
What can I do to solve the problem... I think it's related to the NIC, but
as the box went fine since Friday, I' not sure.

Thanks for your help in advance...

Tim

 

[Guest]

Patience my friend. Box is not locked, merely filled with
uncertainty....(give it 30 minutes it'll go in - I've never seen it take
longer than an hour I don't think)

....Basically you put in a new network card and then possibly forgot to set
the primary DNS server in the adapter settings or set it to the wrong one.
This is why your DC couldn't even find itself when opening up AD snap-ins.
The quick reason behind it - AD uses DNS as it's locater service. Domain
Controllers register A, CNAME, and SRV records in DNS and both clients and
Domain controllers use these records to locate servers providing specific AD
functions. Quick DNS tutorial - 'A' records (also called host records)
provide name to ip address resolution - kind of like using the white pages to
find someone's phone number. CNAME records (also known as ALIAS) are like
when you look something up in the phone book say for example lawnmowers and
it says "see gardeners" - CNAME records point to host records. SRV records
(also called service location records) are like using the yellow pages - you
don't need to know the name of a bussiness (domain controller) all you need
to know is the type of bussiness you're looking for and you'll be given a
list of places that provide that service. For example when a client logs on
it asks DNS for the address of a domain controller and that's how clients
know where to send their log on to (simplified explanation but that's the
jist of it). Soooo. Your DC can't find itself because it's using the wrong
DNS server (one without all the proper records registered). This should make
you very very happy provided this isn't happening at your job. It should
make you happy because you are about to learn a whole lot about Active
directory and you will walk away from this error with a much deeper
understanding of how AD works.

let me know if you need more info. Hope this helps.