workstation logs on and off very slowly

Greetings Everyone,
I have a clean install of an XP pro workstation on a laptop. I joined the pc
to a Windows 2000 domain. The end-user had an existing roaming profile and
is quiet large.I have synchronization of the end-user's mydocuments going to
the server when logging off the domain. I logged on as domain administrator
and created the default user profiles for the domain admin and then logged
on as the end-user to create the default end-user profile. I noticed it took
an extremely long time to authenticate into the server for the end-user, but
eventually it logged in. The problem now is that when logging on with the
end-user's profile, it takes an extremely long time to log into the domain
and the same with logging off the domain. Also, the mydocuments folder is
empty and not synchronized. I tried going into XP pro workstation under
Start>helpandsupport>support>advanced system information> but the group
policy does not come up instead I get"INVALID NAME SPACE". I double checked
the naming convention for the pc. It's perfect and well within specification
.. Any suggestions for troubleshooting this issue will be very much welcomed.
Humbly thank you for any help.

Joey

"Joe" <jbcandullo(nospam)@mmadisonservices.com> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Greetings Everyone,
> I have a clean install of an XP pro workstation on a laptop. I joined the
> pc to a Windows 2000 domain. The end-user had an existing roaming profile
> and is quiet large.I have synchronization of the end-user's mydocuments
> going to the server when logging off the domain. I logged on as domain
> administrator and created the default user profiles for the domain admin
> and then logged on as the end-user to create the default end-user profile.
> I noticed it took an extremely long time to authenticate into the server
> for the end-user, but eventually it logged in. The problem now is that
> when logging on with the end-user's profile, it takes an extremely long
> time to log into the domain and the same with logging off the domain.
> Also, the mydocuments folder is empty and not synchronized. I tried going
> into XP pro workstation under Start>helpandsupport>support>advanced system
> information> but the group policy does not come up instead I get"INVALID
> NAME SPACE". I double checked the naming convention for the pc. It's
> perfect and well within specification . Any suggestions for
> troubleshooting this issue will be very much welcomed. Humbly thank you
> for any help.
>
> Joey
>


This sounds like DNS misconfiguration.

Here's my usual lecture on the topic....

XP differs from previous versions of windows in that it uses
DNS as it's primary name resolution method for finding domain
controllers:

How Domain Controllers Are Located in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314861

If DNS is misconfigured, XP will spend a lot of time waiting for it to
timeout before it tries using legacy NT4 sytle NetBIOS.
( Which may or may not work. )

1) Ensure that the XP clients are all configured to point to the local
DNS server which hosts the AD domain. That will probably be the
win2k server itself.
They should NOT be pointing an an ISP's DNS server.
An 'ipconfig /all' on the XP box should reveal ONLY the domain's
DNS server.

( you should use the DHCP server to push out the local DNS server
address. )

2) Ensure DNS server on win2k is configured to permit dynamic updates.

3) Ensure the win2k server points to itself as a DNS server.

4) For external ( internet ) name resolution, specify your ISP's DNS server
not on the clients, but in the 'forwarders' tab of the local win2k DNS
server.

On the DNS server, if you cannot access the 'Forwarders' and 'Root Hints'
tabs because they are greyed out, that is because there is a root zone (".")
present on the DNS server. You MUST delete this root zone to permit the
server to forward unresolved queries to yout ISP or the root servers.
Accept any nags etc, and let it delete any corresponding reverse lookuop
zones if it asks.


The following articles may assist you in setting up DNS correctly:

Setting Up the Domain Name System for Active Directory
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;237675
HOW TO: Configure DNS for Internet Access in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;300202
DNS and AD FAQs:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=291382



--
Best Regards,
Ron Lowe
MS-MVP Windows Networking