I may have long ago been taught incorrectly how to add a client to AD. In my old 2k3 domain I have always just gone to the client and joined it to the domain then went into AD, and moved the client from the Computers bit box to the OU I wanted it in. The other day someone mentioned going to the OU, and creating a new computer account, and then going to the client and joining it the domain. They explained that this would create a proper trust relationship between the dc and clients, and ensure that policy replication would occur better, and allow proper computer management via the computer management snap-in for MMC. Ultimatley, I want to be able to use the computer management snap-in. In my new 2k8 domain I first created the computer account in the destination OU then joined the client to the domain, this all worked just fine however, the computer management console will still not allow me to connect. I am sure that this whole procedure is a very common practice for many of you out there, and I hope that someone will be able to assist me. Thank you all in advance; I look forward to your input, and questions you may have for me. J

Hello, there is no difference in the way you add machines to the domain, both ways work fine, as long as the machine at the end is in the correct OU the GPOs will be applied. So your main problem is to use compmgmt.msc to connect to another machine, if i understand you correct? Which error message is shown when you try it? Are there any firewalls between the machines and do you use only the domain DNS servers on all machines?Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

Yes, that is correct that I want to get computer management working, and was also confirming that I was adding clients properly, thank you. The error message is: Computer \\computername.domain cannot be managed. The network path was not found. Choose ‘Connect to another computer’ from the Action menu to manage a different computer. Yes, there is a FW on both machines (my management workstation, and the remote client), and yes in regards to your DNS question. Not sure if it's relavant, but thought I would add that the error above is received from both XP, and Win7 clients when trying to use computer management, and my management workstation is Win7, and of course this is all in a 2k8 domain.

Duplicate question?? http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverMigration/thread/a203d394-9a80-4a21-b981-ae16ab88b112 Santhosh Sivarajan | MCTS, MCSE (W2K3/W2K/NT4), MCSA (W2K3/W2K/MSG), CCNA, Network+ Houston, TX http://blogs.sivarajan.com/ http://publications.sivarajan.com/ This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Yes, that was a mistake. Sorry for the confusion, didn't realize it posted there.

Hi, Thank you for your post here. 1. Can you connect to the problematic Windows XP client from other Windows clients/servers in computer management console? 2. I believe the computer management console connectivity issue don't have the relationship with the method how you join the client computers. Please check: a. Make sure Remote Registry Service is started on the Windows XP client. b. To isolate the issue from Windows Firewall, you may check how it works if you temporarily disable the firewall on Windows XP (client side).

As usual my question came from me forgetting to check the basics, and overthinking this minor problem. Adjusting FW settings resolved the problem. Thank you for your assistance.

No problem and thanks for the updae.Santhosh Sivarajan | MCTS, MCSE (W2K3/W2K/NT4), MCSA (W2K3/W2K/MSG), CCNA, Network+ Houston, TX http://blogs.sivarajan.com/ http://publications.sivarajan.com/ This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.