Re: XP Home on a client/server network

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: CZ (CZ_at_no99spam.com)
Date: 04/02/04 

Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2004 07:53:31 -0800

>> Home cannot 'join' a domain on a domain based net. It can work happily
on a work group one, and can log onto specific resources of a domain
with the administrator's permission, just like Win98 can. You have to
decide if that is adequate for your needs

Alex:

Joining a domain means that the ws can have a computer acct in the domain
Active Directory (AD), and that the ws can receive Domain Admins gp and
Domain Users gp into the local ws SAM. Home cannot do either, so Home
cannot join a domain.
Note that generally, the computer acct is authenticated by a domain
controller (DC) during a user's local logon to a domain member computer when
that computer has connectivity with a DC. Since Home cannot have a domain
computer acct, it cannot be used for this type of authentication.

A user does not "log onto specific resources of a domain", a user is
authenticated by a domain controller (DC) to use domain resources, and that
authentication requires a domain user acct (a user always logs on "locally",
but he/she can be authenticated either locally or by a DC).
Generally, domain user acct authentication occurs when the user logs on to
his ws, and that ws has connectivity with a DC. Note that this is a
different authentication from the computer acct authentication mentioned
above.
A user on Home cannot be domain user acct authenticated by a DC during user
logon to Home.
However, when the user on Home attempts to use a domain resource, the domain
server for that resource can contact a DC for domain user acct
authentication. If the authentication is successful, then the normal domain
user controls apply (user rights, share perms, NTFS perms).

The phrase "with the administrator's permission" is misleading. Generally,
the domain administrator does not have to do anything different to setup a
domain user acct used by a Home user from what he/she would do for a user
logging in locally to a XP Pro ws that is a domain member.

I use Home in various domain setups, and it works great, provided a domain
user acct was used to logon locally to Home. What a domain user on Home
cannot do is receive domain GPO, and he/she cannot query AD.

A DC authenticated domain user logged onto Home can use the following domain
resources:
NetBIOS networking
non-NetBT networking
Exchange server
ISA

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