Then on the workstation, set the DNS to point to the DC. Temporarily remove any other DNS entries so that the only entry is the DC.

These two things fix many of my domain joining problems.

Also, I don't think using DHCP for AD DC server is right, if you have seen it recommended differently, please post a link to that documentation.

Use DCDIAG and NETDIAG for troubleshooting. Pay attention to DNS settings, they must have your DC IP address.

Thanks for the info. I've set the ip address to static on the XP VM but still cant join the domain. I can ping the server (192.168.0.1) from the XP VM but I cant ping the XP VM from the server.

NSLookup ON THE XP VM shows:

DNS request timed out
time out was 2 seconds
Cant find server name for address 192.168.0.1 (The server VM IP)
Default servers are not available
Default server unknown 192.168.0.1

I get the same response when running NSloopup on the server.

DNS is up and running on the server and the DNS service is started

Cheers

Andy

OP?

I'm working on it but I just aintvsure which route to use . I want a windows 2003 virtual network as such i understand i use host only but this seems to be complicated by the vmware DHCP server .I want to run DHCP from the Windows 2003 server Active directory controller and assign XP VM to the windows domain but I'm going round in cirles trying to get this to function

If anyone wnats me I'm in the corner banging my head againts the wall lol..

Thanks Peter

Thanks for your time. I've done all you said and bound the virtual nics to VMnet2 .The XP VM is now getting an assigned IP address from the Windows 2003 VM DHCP server so some progress.

I can ping the Windows 2003 VM from the XP Vm but still cant ping from the Windows 2003 VM to the XP Vm .

Looking at the DNS event logs shows:

The zone server.com is configured to accept updates but the A record for the primary server in the zone's SOA record is not available on this DNS server. This may indicate a configuration problem. If the address of the primary server for the zone cannot be resolved DNS clients will be unable to locate a server to accept updates for this zone. This will cause DNS clients to be unable to perform DNS updates.

I'm researching this to see if I can figure it out but it may be simpler if I do a reinstall of 2003 server and the xp machine and start from scratch as I've chenged from NAT, HOST and Bridged at some point or other.

Many Thanks

Kili