A domain controller for the domain could not be contacted

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve_Black
  • Start date Start date
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Steve_Black

Hello everyone,

I am a programmer with very little experience in networking issues. I
work for a small 3-person company and we contract out our networking
services. I'm in the middle of a very important project that needs to
be completed over the weekend, and my machine just crashed (blue screen
when logging into Windows, except in Safe Mode). Luckily I was able to
log into Windows in Safe Mode and back up all of my relevant files. I
then re-formatted my hard drive and just finished installing Windows XP
Professional.

I'm now trying to re-connect to my network and I'm getting the above
error. I went to another computer on my network and reviewed the
properties of the network connection. I saw that it was automatically
obtaining the IP address and DNS Server address (although I do know
what the IP address of my computer was pre- rebuild and I'm pretty sure
it was a static address).

I also looked at the properties of the computer itself (right-clicked
My Computer on the other machine) and saw that the domain said XXX.com.

So, on my machine I right-clicked My Computer and went to Properties.
On the Computer Name tab I hit the 'Change' button to join a domain. I
checked "Member Of Domain" and entered XXX.com (I also tried XXX
without the .com, but got the same error).

I'm getting the following message:

A domain controller for the domain XXX.com could not be contacted.
Ensure that the domain name is typed correctly. If the name is
correct, click Details for troubleshooting information.

When I clicked Details, I got the following:

An error occurred when DNS was queried for the service location (SRV)
resource record used to locate a domain controller for domain XXX.com.

The error was: "No DNS servers configured for the local system."
(error code 0x0000267C DNS_ERROR_NO_DNS_SERVERS)

The query was for the SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.XXX.com

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just as an fyi - Although we contract out our networking services, I do
have administrative rights to everything here and I have the
Administrator's password as well. I have no problem getting accessing
our server and Active Directory if need be, but I'll need some fairly
clear instructions.

Also, during the install of Windows XP Pro I was asked to name my
computer. I named it the same name as it was pre- rebuild, which is
what I'd like it to be.

Thanks.

Steve
 
Inline -

In
Hello everyone,

I am a programmer with very little experience in networking issues. I
work for a small 3-person company and we contract out our networking
services. I'm in the middle of a very important project that needs to
be completed over the weekend, and my machine just crashed (blue
screen when logging into Windows, except in Safe Mode). Luckily I
was able to log into Windows in Safe Mode and back up all of my
relevant files. I then re-formatted my hard drive and just finished
installing Windows XP Professional.

I'm now trying to re-connect to my network and I'm getting the above
error. I went to another computer on my network and reviewed the
properties of the network connection. I saw that it was automatically
obtaining the IP address and DNS Server address (although I do know
what the IP address of my computer was pre- rebuild and I'm pretty
sure it was a static address).
Click to expand...

What was the IP address/subnet mask/DNS IP before? (I'm not sure why you'd
be using a static IP, btw, but some people do).
I also looked at the properties of the computer itself (right-clicked
My Computer on the other machine) and saw that the domain said
XXX.com.

So, on my machine I right-clicked My Computer and went to Properties.
On the Computer Name tab I hit the 'Change' button to join a domain.
I checked "Member Of Domain" and entered XXX.com (I also tried XXX
without the .com, but got the same error).
Click to expand...

You need the NetBIOS name of the domain....if it's not XXX, one simple way
to find out what it is, is to check another PC's login screen - "Log On To"
will have two choices: the local machine, and the NetBIOS name of the
domain.
I'm getting the following message:

A domain controller for the domain XXX.com could not be contacted.
Ensure that the domain name is typed correctly. If the name is
correct, click Details for troubleshooting information.

When I clicked Details, I got the following:

An error occurred when DNS was queried for the service location (SRV)
resource record used to locate a domain controller for domain XXX.com.

The error was: "No DNS servers configured for the local system."
(error code 0x0000267C DNS_ERROR_NO_DNS_SERVERS)

The query was for the SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.XXX.com

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

From a working workstation, do an ipconfig /all in a command prompt. Do the
same on yours. Compare them. The most likely causes of your problem are:

1. You have the wrong DNS config; your PC should specify only the internal
(probably AD-integrated) DNS server's IP - no external/public IPs there.
or
2. You're specifying the wrong domain name

Just as an fyi - Although we contract out our networking services, I
do have administrative rights to everything here and I have the
Administrator's password as well. I have no problem getting accessing
our server and Active Directory if need be, but I'll need some fairly
clear instructions.
Click to expand...

Have you thought of asking the people who actually do the network support
for your domain for assistance?
Also, during the install of Windows XP Pro I was asked to name my
computer. I named it the same name as it was pre- rebuild, which is
what I'd like it to be.
Click to expand...

You may run into issues with the computer account in the domain. I'd name
the machine something else for the time being, and then delete the computer
account in ADUC and wait a bit - then rename the PC to what you wish and
rejoin the domain.
 
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