Domain not available

[Kathy]

Hi.
I've got a nice one.
AN end-user has come to me and stated that as of "sveral
months ago" when he tries to log into his Win2K laptop if
he is not able to login when his network cable is
unattached.

HE gets the following error. "The system is unable to log
you on now because the domain xxxx is not availbale."

Has anyone encountered this?
HOw did you fix it.
His is the only system in the company with this issue and
the little bit of information on Microsoft support was
useless.

Thank you!!!
Kathy

 

[Steven L Umbach]

I am a bit confused as to whether he can not logon to the domain when his cable is
attached or unattached.

To logon to the domain when not connected to the domain, the computer must be
configured to do cached logons which by default a domain computer is allowed to cache
the last 10 domain users for logon while not connected to the domain. If his computer
is configured for cached logons and he can not logon, then maybe his user account is
not cached on that computer

If he can not logon to the domain while connected to the network, then his computer
is probably misconfigured for dns or the computer account has been corrupted or the
computer account password has expired which they do by default after thirty days of
not connecting to the domain. Check his computer via ipconfig /all to make sure it is
pointing to an AD domain controller only as it's preferred dns server and NEVER an
ISP dns server in the preferred dns server list. More than likely the computer
account has expired and you could try to reset it with netdom or unjoin and rejoin
the computer to the domain. Running netdiag on it would show the state of domain
communications and membership and looking in Event Viewer for clues may be
elpful. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321708 -- netdiag.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;301423 -- how to install
support tools.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;216393

 

[Guest]

Sorry about the confusion.
He is unable to login using his domain account while
unplugged from the domain. When is plugged into the
domain all is well.

I've verified that his system is configured for cached
logins.

WHat I have no verified and don't seem to be able to
locate is whether or not his particular account is cached.

I get this issue no matter what userid I add so I know
it's soething global to the machine rather than local to
his ID.

Thoughts?

-----Original Message-----
I am a bit confused as to whether he can not logon to the domain when his cable is
attached or unattached.

To logon to the domain when not connected to the domain, the computer must be
configured to do cached logons which by default a domain computer is allowed to cache
the last 10 domain users for logon while not connected to the domain. If his computer
is configured for cached logons and he can not logon, then maybe his user account is
not cached on that computer

If he can not logon to the domain while connected to the network, then his computer
is probably misconfigured for dns or the computer account has been corrupted or the
computer account password has expired which they do by default after thirty days of
not connecting to the domain. Check his computer via

ipconfig /all to make sure it is

pointing to an AD domain controller only as it's

preferred dns server and NEVER an

 

[Steven L Umbach]

OK. When you check to see if the computer supports cached logons, make sure you check
"effective" settings in Local Security Policy. I am not sure offhand how to check
what accounts are cached. What I would do for sure is to run netdiag on it while it
is connected to the domain to make sure all is well as if proper connectivity does
not exist to the domain and domain controller then the logon will not be cached. Have
him try to change his domain password while logged onto the domain to see if he can
and if it helps with being able to cache logon. --- Steve