Windows XP Client - Long time to logon 1

[hack12]

Hi All,
I have a home setup where I am using windows server 2003 EE. I was using roaming profiles however I have disabled them. I am trying to logon as a domain user on a client that has windows xp professional. The logon time is very slow. It takes almost 5 minutes for the user to logon. I am using the windows 2003 server as a Domain Controller and as a Active Directory server but I DO NOT have it as a DNS server or DHCP server. This is a home setup. I have a netgear as a personal firewall that gets the public ip from isp. I have all my clients pointing to the netgear. The netgear assigns ip addresses via DHCP. I went in to the WinXP client and I made the DNS point to the windows 2003 server ip but it still doesn't help. I don't see the purpose in that but I tried it anyway without any results. I have seen posts that are giving the resolution as moving DNS and DHCP to the server however I am a little confused and appreciate it if someone can please spell it out that why do I need a DNS server. This is a simple home setup. I am eventually going to have about 4 client pc's all running windows xp professional. My dns is through my ISP. However my netgear assigns itself as a DNS for all the clients and I guess than forwards all the requests to the ISP's DNS. I am not really familiar with DNS. Can someone please help and let me know what would be affected if I make the server a DNS server as well. Do I need this?

I am trying to setup folder redirection as well. Can that be done without using roaming profiles. I tried using it however it didn't work for the user. The user logs in to the domain however with just a default profile. Any suggestions on how to make this work.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[scottew]

What type of application are your clients connecting to?

Is it a web application or are you using your server as a Terminal Server?

 

[msworld]

It is better to use Windows DNS instead of ISP or router DNS. XP is heavily dependent on DNS to find DC and the router or ISP DNS doesn't have the DC records or take long time to load it. If for some reasons, you don't want to setup Windows DNS, try to enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on all computers or create lmhosts pointing to the DC.

If that doesn't fix the issue, this search result may help,

windows slow issues
When I login into a Windows 2000 active directory from a new xp pro machine the login in is extremely slow. After logged on, everything works fine. ...

http://www.chicagotech.net/winslow.htm

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on

http://www.HowToNetworking.com

 

[hack12]

Hi Scott/Bob,

Thanks for your help in trying to solve this issue.Scott I am not quite sure what do you mean by "application". My server is setup as a file server and a domain controller. Currently I am just in the initial phases where I just joined my first client to this domain and its taking forever for a user on that client to login. Its a home setup. Nothing fancy.


Bob,

Can you please give me an example on how I would setup the lmhosts or direct me to a link. I had put the entry in the lmhosts on the client pointing to the server but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Also can you give me some detail on what exactly would happen if I make this Domain controller a DNS server as well. I mean how would it point to the ISP's DNS server so that my client workstations can browse the internet.


A separate question is regarding folder redirection. can I have this without using roaming profiles? Can you give me a step by step way to set it up. Thanks so much for all your help.

 

[58sniper]

If you're using Active Directory, you need a working AD DNS server. Your workstations HAVE to point to that DNS server, and not the one provided by your ISP. Same with servers.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)

 

[msworld]

These step by step how to may help,

How to setup DNS Server in Windows Server 2003

http://www.howtonetworking.com/server/dns.htm

How to use an Lmhosts file for name resolution issues. The Lmhosts file is a local text file that maps Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to NetBIOS names of ...

http://www.howtonetworking.com/Windows/lmhosts.htm

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on

http://www.HowToNetworking.com