Mike said:
I brought my work Laptop home to backup some files... My laptop was on a
domain at work. I switched to a Workgroup name so I could transfer some
files onto my home network.
Now I cannot log onto my laptop, I believe it is still looking to resolve
from the domain.
How can I switch back to the domain? Please tell me I'm not S.O.L.
You're not completely SOL, you just need someone with Admin rights to get
the computer to reenter the domain. You are for now, though. You see, the
user certificate is authenticated on the domain and then copied onto the
local computer. This allows you to log into your laptop while off the
domain. If you switch to workgroup, it won't allow you to log on. This is
because the local credentials only allow you to log on when the appropriate
domain is selected. You would have to have your administrators set up a
local user account with your home workgroup for you to use it. If you have a
burner in the laptop, next time either use that, or send file via e-mail to
yourself.
And that leaves us with our lesson for the century: Never change critical
system settings on a company computer without the permission and aid of the
Information Systems/Information Technology department. Doing that will avoid
a headache inflicted upon oneself and the annoyance the IT people will have
towards the person with the aforementioned headache afterwards.
