Moving Laptop from XP Domain to Workgroup Environments

[franket]

Has anyone discovered a simple and elegant way for mobile users to move between a domain-based work environment and a workgroup-based home environment?

At work we have recently implemented domains. As a result I can no longer see files on my home XP Pro desktop computer over my wireless network. I can see the workgroup and the computer name, but I can't log on to the home workgroup pc from the laptop set up for the work domain. As a result, I can't access my files on the home computer from the laptop.

We've found a work-around by creating a separate profile on the laptop for me to use at home. This allows me to log on to my home workgroup from the second profile, but basically makes me a different user at work and at home. This solution requires creation of shortcuts to let me see briefcases and other folders from each profile, and we are now trying to figure out how to make my favorites and synchronized Outlook files (the .ost file on the laptop C: drive) work in this arrangement. But I'm also realizing that most of my settings from my Start menu to my application preferences will also need to be coordinated between the two profiles. This seems like a developing nightmare.

I'd like to avoid the schizophrenic dual profile and find a simple way to remain one user and just tell Windows "Now I'm at work, log me in to the domain" or "Now I'm at home, log me in to the workgroup."

 

[mjinks61]

When logging on after pressing ctrl/alt/del, use the drop dwown box where it shows your user/domain name, and select username/local machine. As long as you are on a home lan with dhcp, it will connect to the local lan and ignore teh domain login.



Good luck, and Happy Computing

 

[franket]

That's what I'm doing, and it does get me connected in either location. However, that is putting me into another profile, where most of the settings (from control panel, etc.) are different--for example, Start Menu settings, Favorites folder, screen saver, options in MS Word.

Maybe I'm taking the wrong tack on this. Is there a way to get all my options and settings from one profile to apply in the other profile--and to stay in sync as I make changes in one or the other?