Conntecting to both a workgroup and a domain

I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue is
that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop XP pro.

Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able to
plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting up
different accounts on the laptop with different networking settings.
However the laptop requires me to logon to the school domain when i log
on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer itself although the
computer is not physically connected to the school network.

Creating a new account when logged on is not possible as i get the
message "the user ***-laptop\username could not be added to the
adminsitrators group because ****-laptop\username does not exist." -
this confuses me.

Is what i am trying to do possible?
All suggestions welcome

Peace
PH

On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 15:28:00 +0000, Purple Haze
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
>network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
>laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue is
>that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop XP pro.
>
>Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able to
>plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
>configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting up
>different accounts on the laptop with different networking settings.
>However the laptop requires me to logon to the school domain when i log
>on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer itself although the
>computer is not physically connected to the school network.

First off, no problem mixing XP Home and XP Pro. The only relevant
difference is that XP Home cannot handle Domains, which you aren't
dfirectly wanting to do anyway.

However, what you are trying to do is not straightforward - and having
XP Home closes one option off to you.

Before doing anything remember your laptop is effectively on loan to
you from the school (presumably one of the recent "Computers for
Teachers" issues?). It has been set up for use on your school network
for use there.

If you mess with the laptop settings you are quite likely to stop the
laptop working properly in the school setting, and your tech support
is unlikely to be pleased. Having done this role in a school in the
recent past I expect you don't want to add to the techie's workload
and possibly lose use of the laptop whilst it is fixed.

One way around it would be to setup your "main" computer on your home
network to behave like your school network (same name, IP address,
domain etc). Then create an account on this machine identically
named/passworded as your school one. You then plug the laptop into
either network and it is blissfully unaware.

However, as mentioned above, this isn't possible with XP Home. You
can buy an OEM version of XP Pro for around £130...

jay

Purple Haze wrote:
> I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
> network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
> laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue
> is that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop
> XP pro.
>
> Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able
> to plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
> configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting
> up different accounts on the laptop with different networking
> settings. However the laptop requires me to logon to the school
> domain when i log on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer
> itself although the computer is not physically connected to the
> school network.
>
> Creating a new account when logged on is not possible as i get the
> message "the user ***-laptop\username could not be added to the
> adminsitrators group because ****-laptop\username does not exist." -
> this confuses me.
>
> Is what i am trying to do possible?
> All suggestions welcome
>
What do you want to achieve when you connect the laptop to your home
network?

I have a home network running as a workgroup and also use my work supplied
laptop at home.

Net browsing is straight forward as this is all covered by my router , and I
can access shared drives/folders/printers that are located on the workgroup
machines.

When I map a network drive/printer I am asked for a username/password of an
account with permissions so I just supply the details of the user account on
the relevant workgroup PC and that does the trick.

What I can't do as easily is to give the workgroup PCs permissions to access
shared items on the Laptop that is part of the domain

--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, "Jay"
(E-Mail Removed) says...
<snip>
> One way around it would be to setup your "main" computer on your home
> network to behave like your school network (same name, IP address,
> domain etc). Then create an account on this machine identically
> named/passworded as your school one. You then plug the laptop into
> either network and it is blissfully unaware.
>
> However, as mentioned above, this isn't possible with XP Home. You
> can buy an OEM version of XP Pro for around £130...
>
Which still won't do it, as XP Pro can't be a PDC - you need NT/2K/2K3
Server OS to do that. Or you could pick up an old Pentium machine and
run it as a PDC using SAMBA on Linux :-)

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 02:10:27 -0000, Rob Morley <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Which still won't do it, as XP Pro can't be a PDC - you need NT/2K/2K3
>Server OS to do that. Or you could pick up an old Pentium machine and
>run it as a PDC using SAMBA on Linux :-)

Ouch...didn't know that. Same with Win2k pro (rather than server) ?

jay

Have you tried a simple utility called Mobile Net Switch?
You can set this with all the parameters of both your work network and your
home workgroup, including IP adresses.
I use this method quite successfully.
URL is: http://www.mobilenetswitch.com/


Chris


"Purple Haze" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3feda4f1$0$9386$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
> network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
> laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue is
> that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop XP pro.
>
> Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able to
> plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
> configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting up
> different accounts on the laptop with different networking settings.
> However the laptop requires me to logon to the school domain when i log
> on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer itself although the
> computer is not physically connected to the school network.
>
> Creating a new account when logged on is not possible as i get the
> message "the user ***-laptop\username could not be added to the
> adminsitrators group because ****-laptop\username does not exist." -
> this confuses me.
>
> Is what i am trying to do possible?
> All suggestions welcome
>
> Peace
> PH
>

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, "Jay"
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 02:10:27 -0000, Rob Morley <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Which still won't do it, as XP Pro can't be a PDC - you need NT/2K/2K3
> >Server OS to do that. Or you could pick up an old Pentium machine and
> >run it as a PDC using SAMBA on Linux :-)
>
> Ouch...didn't know that. Same with Win2k pro (rather than server) ?
>
Yes - as I said you need one of the server OSs if you want to run domain
controllers.

Are you able to work "off-line" (at home) with the laptop? Your requirements
sound exactly the same as mine.

I leave my work laptop set to my employers domain, it is already set for
DHCP allocation of an IP address and the same password serves both network
and off-line use of the device.

I have set my home PC to be on a workgroup (called HOME) and have ignored
setting any domain name or user passwords.

With ICS setup on the home PC, I am able to connect the laptop to the home
PC (via a crossover cable) and access both my dial-up internet account and
any shared folders on the home PC.

I use the home PC as a file server and the laptop as my working terminal in
this configuration which negates the requirement for any tampering that has
to be carried out to the laptop settings.

Occasionally I am asked for a network password when I try to establish a
connection to my home PC, but am able to gain access by simply entering the
WinXP user/account name currently in use on the Home PC.


Regards


"Purple Haze" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3feda4f1$0$9386$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
> network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
> laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue is
> that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop XP pro.
>
> Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able to
> plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
> configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting up
> different accounts on the laptop with different networking settings.
> However the laptop requires me to logon to the school domain when i log
> on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer itself although the
> computer is not physically connected to the school network.
>
> Creating a new account when logged on is not possible as i get the
> message "the user ***-laptop\username could not be added to the
> adminsitrators group because ****-laptop\username does not exist." -
> this confuses me.
>
> Is what i am trying to do possible?
> All suggestions welcome
>
> Peace
> PH
>


---
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I have the same setup here and it works well!

Definitely easier to change your settings on your home network to mirror
what you have at work than vice versa ...

--
It's only a matter of time --
http://www.retireinthesun.com/plugin

"Dr Zoidberg" <AlexNOOOOO!!!!!!@drzoidberg.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bskvql$dsg28$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Purple Haze wrote:
> > I recently have been given a laptop which is set-up to run on a school
> > network (domain). I however would like to also be able to use this
> > laptop on my home network which runs as a workgroup. The other issue
> > is that the computers on my home network run XP home, and the laptop
> > XP pro.
> >
> > Ideally i would like to be able to set up a system whereby i am able
> > to plug the laptop into either network and it would work with minimum
> > configuration. I was thinking that this might be possible by setting
> > up different accounts on the laptop with different networking
> > settings. However the laptop requires me to logon to the school
> > domain when i log on, and i am unable to just log onto the computer
> > itself although the computer is not physically connected to the
> > school network.
> >
> > Creating a new account when logged on is not possible as i get the
> > message "the user ***-laptop\username could not be added to the
> > adminsitrators group because ****-laptop\username does not exist." -
> > this confuses me.
> >
> > Is what i am trying to do possible?
> > All suggestions welcome
> >
> What do you want to achieve when you connect the laptop to your home
> network?
>
> I have a home network running as a workgroup and also use my work supplied
> laptop at home.
>
> Net browsing is straight forward as this is all covered by my router , and
I
> can access shared drives/folders/printers that are located on the
workgroup
> machines.
>
> When I map a network drive/printer I am asked for a username/password of
an
> account with permissions so I just supply the details of the user account
on
> the relevant workgroup PC and that does the trick.
>
> What I can't do as easily is to give the workgroup PCs permissions to
access
> shared items on the Laptop that is part of the domain
>
> --
> Alex
>
> "We are now up against live, hostile targets"
>
> "So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
> attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "
>
> www.drzoidberg.co.uk
>
>