DHCP Lease delayed on startup

[Guest]

I just installed a new workstation on our network. It has Windows XP SP2 (an
AMD-64-based PC). We run Active Directory with Windows 2003 and a DHCP
server on a 2003 standard server.

We have multiple new computers of the exact same configuration (see above),
and have 3 installed so far. All of them are experiencing this same problem.

When the computer starts and you log in, network drives don't get mapped,
etc., because the machine does not have an address assigned from DHCP. If
you start it up then leave the computer sit at the login prompt for about 30
seconds, then log in, it's fine.

Any idea why it takes so long to get an IP and what we can do to fix it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[allan_grossman]

Hi, Jared -

My guess is the machine is faster than the network - I have the same
problem with my shiny new 3.2GHz laptop ;-)

What I'd do is set a domain machine policy that forces workstations to
wait for the network at logon - or if you want to, you can set the
policy as a local machine policy instead. I set the local policy on my
laptop and it works just fine.

To set a local policy, open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc),
browse to Computer Configuration --> Admninistrative Templates -->
System --> Logon

and set the policy that says "Always wait for the network at computer
startup and logon". This should solve your problem.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Allan,

Great idea, thanks a lot!

-Jared