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r1214: Slow logon to Windows 2000/XP Network
Slow logon to Windows 2000/XP Network
Problem
You have a network with a combination of Windows 2000 Server and Windows XP computers. Your network logons can take minutes.
Applies To
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows XP
Solution
The problem may be to do with the DNS server on the Windows 2000 Server. The Windows XP professional logon uses DNS to logon, so the DNS server must be running correctly. For more background information about this, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 314861.
This solution is divided into three parts: configure the DNS server, add your external web site, and configure the DHCP server.
Configure the DNS server
1. Turn on the DNS Server service, and make sure that it is set to start automatically.
2. Open the DNS Server snap-in (Administrative Tools | DNS). You should see a screen similar to the one below.
3. Right-click on your computer (Riverbank01 in the screen above) and select Properties. In WIndows 2000 Server you should see the screen below.
In WIndows 2003 Server you will see this screen:
4. Select the Forwarders tab. You should see a screen similar to the one below.
5. Add the IP addresses of your external DNS server(s) to the list. You should get these from your ISP. Do not use the examples above unless you are a customer of Community Internet.
6. Click on OK to return to the main DNS window.
Add your external web site
You might have set up your Windows 2000 domain using your public domain name, eg riverbank.co.uk. That’s fine if you host your web site on this network. If your web site is hosted externally, as ours is, your DNS server needs to be told to forward requests to an external IP address.
1. In the main DNS window expand the left-hand pane to go to your domain, as shown below. Right-click on the domain and select New Host.
2. In the New Host window, enter www in the Name box, as shown in the screen below. Then enter the IP address of your external web site.
3. Click on Add host. In the main DNS window, you will now see a new entry in the right-hand pane called www, as you can see in the screen shot underneath point 1.
Incidentally, if you follow Microsoft’s current guidelines for domain naming for Small Business Server 2000, you will avoid the need to set the location of your external web site. For more information see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 296250.
Configure the DHCP server
You must now ensure that all computers on the network use only the Windows 2000 Server’s DNS server. They must not use external DNS servers. The simplest way to do this is to use DHCP.This section does not cover the configuration of the DHCP server, only the changes relevant to the DNS server.
1. Make sure that the DHCP Server service is running, and set to start up automatically.
2. Open the DNS Server window. Expand the left-hand pane to go to Scope Options, as shown below.
3. In the right-hand pane highlight 006 DNS Servers. Right-click on it and select Properties. You should then see a screen similar to the one below.
4. Enter the IP address of the local DNS server, ie the IP address of the network server on which you just configured the DNS server.
5. Save your changes.
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