Domains and Workgroup

[Andrew]

My laptop has been set up to be a part of my work domain and is running Vista
Business. I have a network at my house that runs XP Pro. When at home, I am
unable to see my workgroup or use the networked printer tied to that
workgroup.

What are the consequences of removing this computer from the domain and
joing the workgroup? Can I not move seamlessly between the two as I either
work from home or on the road (no corporate office)? Where can I learn more
about this issue?

I'm not really sure why the laptop was set up as a member of the domain to
begin with. What functionality will I loose?

 

[Malke]

My laptop has been set up to be a part of my work domain and is running Vista
Business. I have a network at my house that runs XP Pro. When at home, I am
unable to see my workgroup or use the networked printer tied to that
workgroup.

What are the consequences of removing this computer from the domain and
joing the workgroup? Can I not move seamlessly between the two as I either
work from home or on the road (no corporate office)? Where can I learn more
about this issue?

I'm not really sure why the laptop was set up as a member of the domain to
begin with. What functionality will I loose?

The consequences of removing the computer from the domain is that you'll
no longer be able to log on at work and your IT Dept. will be cross with
you. You can use your home network resources without messing with your
work setup.

From MVP Lanwench - You don't need to change to a workgroup just to
access resources on it. Once you've logged in using your domain account
(using cached credentials), and have an IP address on the home network,
you can map drives, use printers, etc., very easily - one way, in a
command line:

net use x: \\computername\sharename /user:computername\username <enter>

MS KB article about the Net Use command - http://tinyurl.com/3bpnj

Also see:

Managing One Windows XP-based Laptop for the Office and Home by MVP
Charlie Russel - http://tinyurl.com/cpy9q
http://winhlp.com/wxdomainworkgroup.htm - MVP Hans-Georg Michna

If you are unsure how to do the above, ask you IT Dept. for help.


Malke

 

[Andrew]

Thanks - I'll dig into it. We do not have an IT department - I'm it for the
most part. We used a thrid party but fired them for incompetency. We are
essentially a band of gypsies linked together virtually with SBS, BES, and
our laptops. Why I am a member of a domain is a mystery to me as we log in
to exchange through RPC. We do not use our VPN connection in a traditional
way - no shared folders or files on a server. Simply Active Directory for
CRM and SharePoint. That's it.

So - I'm not sure my IT department would get mad at me...

 

[Malke]

Thanks - I'll dig into it. We do not have an IT department - I'm it for the
most part. We used a thrid party but fired them for incompetency. We are
essentially a band of gypsies linked together virtually with SBS, BES, and
our laptops. Why I am a member of a domain is a mystery to me as we log in
to exchange through RPC. We do not use our VPN connection in a traditional
way - no shared folders or files on a server. Simply Active Directory for
CRM and SharePoint. That's it.

So - I'm not sure my IT department would get mad at me...

OK, so the only person who will be annoyed will be you. ;-) Of course I
can't answer why you're a member of a domain but I suspect it has to do
with needing to use server-based services like SharePoint.


Malke