Access Denied when registering computer on domain

Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account which was
configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home and was trying to
connect it to my home desktop using direct cable. So I temporarily logged off
the domain and switched to a workgroup using Control Panel -> System ->
Network Identification -> Network ID -> This computer is for home use and not
part of a business network. The connection didn't work and I tried to log
back onto the doman, but got an "The specified domain either does not exist
or could not be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to windows at
all. Now I realize that this is because I was at home, and if I had gone to
work and tried to connect it from there, it probably would have worked. Being
impatient (and stupid), I though I might log on using a local admin account,
then set up the remote account from there. Since I've never used a local
admin account and didn't know the password, I downloaded a program called
Emergency Boot CDRom, which promised to blank out the admin password. It did
that, and I could log on using a local admin account. I still got the same
error though. Desperate, I went to work, and from there I could at least
locate the domain. Now I got an "Access Denied" message. I tried logging on
using my remote admin account on another desktop at work, and that worked
fine, so there's nothing wrong with the account or my permissions, and it's
obviously something corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried installing the
network drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client, etc), but no go. Sorry
for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any ideas???
Thankful for any kind of help:-((

Lina <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
> I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account
> which was configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home
> and was trying to connect it to my home desktop using direct cable.
> So I temporarily logged off the domain and switched to a workgroup
> using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification -> Network ID
> -> This computer is for home use and not part of a business network.
> The connection didn't work and I tried to log back onto the doman,
> but got an "The specified domain either does not exist or could not
> be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to windows at all.
> Now I realize that this is because I was at home, and if I had gone
> to work and tried to connect it from there, it probably would have
> worked. Being impatient (and stupid), I though I might log on using a
> local admin account, then set up the remote account from there. Since
> I've never used a local admin account and didn't know the password, I
> downloaded a program called Emergency Boot CDRom, which promised to
> blank out the admin password. It did that, and I could log on using a
> local admin account. I still got the same error though. Desperate, I
> went to work, and from there I could at least locate the domain. Now
> I got an "Access Denied" message. I tried logging on using my remote
> admin account on another desktop at work, and that worked fine, so
> there's nothing wrong with the account or my permissions, and it's
> obviously something corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried
> installing the network drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client,
> etc), but no go. Sorry for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any
> ideas???
> Thankful for any kind of help:-((

Did you rejoin the domain at work? Is there a domain admin you can ask for
help with this?

Note - you don't need to change to a workgroup just to access resources on
it. You shouldn't play with your laptop's network settings at all. Once
you've logged in using your domain account (using cached credentials), and
have an IP address on the home network, you can map drives, use printers,
whatnot, very easily - here's one way, in a command line:

net use x: \\computername\sharename /user:computername\username <enter>

Hi, thanks for replying!
> Did you rejoin the domain at work?
No: At work, using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification ->
Properties, it can find the domain, find my account, yet gives me this
"Access denied" error when I try to register the computer on the domain. I
can log on using this account from any other workstation at work, so there's
nothing wrong with the account or my access rights. It's obviously something
corrupt in the registry or whatever from that boot program that blanked out
my local admin password...

> Is there a domain admin you can ask for help with this?
Been doing that all day :-(( They couldn't help much, being weekend and all...

> you don't need to change to a workgroup just to access resources on it.
The laptop logs on to the company domain. I had it at home though and wanted
to connect it to my personal desktop using a LAN crossover cable, so I
thought they had to be on the same workgroup...Anyway that's not the trouble
anymore, I'd just love to have it back on the company domain again, that's
all, never mind connecting it to my home computer!

Any way out of this mess without having to reinstall windows or something?

Thanks...

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

> Lina <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
> > I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account
> > which was configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home
> > and was trying to connect it to my home desktop using direct cable.
> > So I temporarily logged off the domain and switched to a workgroup
> > using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification -> Network ID
> > -> This computer is for home use and not part of a business network.
> > The connection didn't work and I tried to log back onto the doman,
> > but got an "The specified domain either does not exist or could not
> > be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to windows at all.
> > Now I realize that this is because I was at home, and if I had gone
> > to work and tried to connect it from there, it probably would have
> > worked. Being impatient (and stupid), I though I might log on using a
> > local admin account, then set up the remote account from there. Since
> > I've never used a local admin account and didn't know the password, I
> > downloaded a program called Emergency Boot CDRom, which promised to
> > blank out the admin password. It did that, and I could log on using a
> > local admin account. I still got the same error though. Desperate, I
> > went to work, and from there I could at least locate the domain. Now
> > I got an "Access Denied" message. I tried logging on using my remote
> > admin account on another desktop at work, and that worked fine, so
> > there's nothing wrong with the account or my permissions, and it's
> > obviously something corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried
> > installing the network drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client,
> > etc), but no go. Sorry for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any
> > ideas???
> > Thankful for any kind of help:-((
>
> Did you rejoin the domain at work? Is there a domain admin you can ask for
> help with this?
>
> Note - you don't need to change to a workgroup just to access resources on
> it. You shouldn't play with your laptop's network settings at all. Once
> you've logged in using your domain account (using cached credentials), and
> have an IP address on the home network, you can map drives, use printers,
> whatnot, very easily - here's one way, in a command line:
>
> net use x: \\computername\sharename /user:computername\username <enter>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Lina <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Hi, thanks for replying!
>> Did you rejoin the domain at work?
> No: At work, using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification
> -> Properties, it can find the domain, find my account, yet gives me
> this "Access denied" error when I try to register the computer on the
> domain. I can log on using this account from any other workstation at
> work, so there's nothing wrong with the account or my access rights.
> It's obviously something corrupt in the registry or whatever from
> that boot program that blanked out my local admin password...

No, doubtful. Try specifying another account; yours may not have permissions
to add a computer to the domain.
>
>> Is there a domain admin you can ask for help with this?
> Been doing that all day :-(( They couldn't help much, being weekend
> and all...

Then perhaps this will need to wait until Monday....you *could* step away
from the computer and try to do something non-work-related. People do,
sometimes, I've heard! (myself excluded).
>
>> you don't need to change to a workgroup just to access resources on
>> it.
> The laptop logs on to the company domain. I had it at home though and
> wanted to connect it to my personal desktop using a LAN crossover
> cable, so I thought they had to be on the same workgroup...Anyway
> that's not the trouble anymore, I'd just love to have it back on the
> company domain again, that's all, never mind connecting it to my home
> computer!
>
> Any way out of this mess without having to reinstall windows or
> something?

Probably, but as mentioned before, you really should be going through your
IT dept on this. If you buy them doughnuts or bagels they probably won't
smack you around too much for playing with your network settings. Of course,
you could always tell them to revoke your admin rights and then you won't be
able to this sort of thing again. ;-)

>
> Thanks...
>
> "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:
>
>> Lina <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>> Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
>>> I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account
>>> which was configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home
>>> and was trying to connect it to my home desktop using direct cable.
>>> So I temporarily logged off the domain and switched to a workgroup
>>> using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification -> Network
>>> ID -> This computer is for home use and not part of a business
>>> network. The connection didn't work and I tried to log back onto
>>> the doman, but got an "The specified domain either does not exist
>>> or could not be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to
>>> windows at all. Now I realize that this is because I was at home,
>>> and if I had gone to work and tried to connect it from there, it
>>> probably would have worked. Being impatient (and stupid), I though
>>> I might log on using a local admin account, then set up the remote
>>> account from there. Since I've never used a local admin account and
>>> didn't know the password, I downloaded a program called Emergency
>>> Boot CDRom, which promised to blank out the admin password. It did
>>> that, and I could log on using a local admin account. I still got
>>> the same error though. Desperate, I went to work, and from there I
>>> could at least locate the domain. Now I got an "Access Denied"
>>> message. I tried logging on using my remote admin account on
>>> another desktop at work, and that worked fine, so there's nothing
>>> wrong with the account or my permissions, and it's obviously
>>> something corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried installing the
>>> network drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client, etc), but no
>>> go. Sorry for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any ideas???
>>> Thankful for any kind of help:-((
>>
>> Did you rejoin the domain at work? Is there a domain admin you can
>> ask for help with this?
>>
>> Note - you don't need to change to a workgroup just to access
>> resources on it. You shouldn't play with your laptop's network
>> settings at all. Once you've logged in using your domain account
>> (using cached credentials), and have an IP address on the home
>> network, you can map drives, use printers, whatnot, very easily -
>> here's one way, in a command line:
>>
>> net use x: \\computername\sharename /user:computername\username
>> <enter>

Update: Apparently, what I've done is kick the computer out of the domain,
but there's nothing wrong with my domain account. This account, btw, was also
an admin account. I also have a local administrator account, which I'm using
now to just get something running. So, to rephrase: Given a local admin
account, and a domain account (which also has admin privileges), how can I
add the domain account back to the domain? Or, in other words, why should I
be getting "access denied"?

"Lina" wrote:

> Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
> I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account which was
> configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home and was trying to
> connect it to my home desktop using direct cable. So I temporarily logged off
> the domain and switched to a workgroup using Control Panel -> System ->
> Network Identification -> Network ID -> This computer is for home use and not
> part of a business network. The connection didn't work and I tried to log
> back onto the doman, but got an "The specified domain either does not exist
> or could not be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to windows at
> all. Now I realize that this is because I was at home, and if I had gone to
> work and tried to connect it from there, it probably would have worked. Being
> impatient (and stupid), I though I might log on using a local admin account,
> then set up the remote account from there. Since I've never used a local
> admin account and didn't know the password, I downloaded a program called
> Emergency Boot CDRom, which promised to blank out the admin password. It did
> that, and I could log on using a local admin account. I still got the same
> error though. Desperate, I went to work, and from there I could at least
> locate the domain. Now I got an "Access Denied" message. I tried logging on
> using my remote admin account on another desktop at work, and that worked
> fine, so there's nothing wrong with the account or my permissions, and it's
> obviously something corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried installing the
> network drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client, etc), but no go. Sorry
> for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any ideas???
> Thankful for any kind of help:-((

Lina <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Update: Apparently, what I've done is kick the computer out of the
> domain, but there's nothing wrong with my domain account. This
> account, btw, was also an admin account.

Admin account on what? In the domain? Or on the local workstation?

> I also have a local
> administrator account, which I'm using now to just get something
> running.

That's fine.

> So, to rephrase: Given a local admin account, and a domain
> account (which also has admin privileges), how can I add the domain
> account back to the domain? Or, in other words, why should I be
> getting "access denied"?

If your domain account does not have permission to add a computer to the
domain, you will see this message. This has nothing to do with the rights it
has locally on your workstation. Of course you need admin rights locally on
the workstation as well, or you wouldn't be able to change *any* of your
network settings.



>
> "Lina" wrote:
>
>> Hi, I managed to completely mess things up. Here's what happened:
>> I log on to my work laptop (win2k) with an administrator account
>> which was configured as part of a domain. I had the laptop at home
>> and was trying to connect it to my home desktop using direct cable.
>> So I temporarily logged off the domain and switched to a workgroup
>> using Control Panel -> System -> Network Identification -> Network
>> ID -> This computer is for home use and not part of a business
>> network. The connection didn't work and I tried to log back onto the
>> doman, but got an "The specified domain either does not exist or
>> could not be contacted." After rebooting, I couldn't log on to
>> windows at all. Now I realize that this is because I was at home,
>> and if I had gone to work and tried to connect it from there, it
>> probably would have worked. Being impatient (and stupid), I though I
>> might log on using a local admin account, then set up the remote
>> account from there. Since I've never used a local admin account and
>> didn't know the password, I downloaded a program called Emergency
>> Boot CDRom, which promised to blank out the admin password. It did
>> that, and I could log on using a local admin account. I still got
>> the same error though. Desperate, I went to work, and from there I
>> could at least locate the domain. Now I got an "Access Denied"
>> message. I tried logging on using my remote admin account on another
>> desktop at work, and that worked fine, so there's nothing wrong with
>> the account or my permissions, and it's obviously something
>> corrupted with my laptop settings. I tried installing the network
>> drivers and the protocols (TCP/IP, MS client, etc), but no go. Sorry
>> for the long post, but I'm desperate. Any ideas???
>> Thankful for any kind of help:-((