Hi I can't find any server 2003 forums anywhere, just 2008. So please point to the right place if there is one, thanks. Anyway, this is what i'm having problems with. Trying to setup DC but client computers can't see itI'm having some problems (DNS I think) with a windows 2003 server I've setup as a domain controller. Basically when I try and get computers to join the domain it can't find the domain.Here is some background information.I work in a department where all our computers are connected to a university domain. We login with active directory accounts setup on their DC server and we get our IP address from their DHCP server which also configures DNS.Now we are trying to setup our own Win 2003 server in our lab which will be configured as a domain controller. Once setup we will join all our computers to our domain and login using accounts setup in active directory. So the computers will still get their IP address from the university DHCP server but will be members of and login to our domain.So I've setup the server has a DC and as part of the dcpromo routine I setup the server to be a DNS server as well. Now the problem is that when I try and join a computer to this domain it can't find my DC. I'm sure the problem is with DNS because all the computers get their settings from the DCHP server including it's DNS addresses it knows nothing about my DC right? I altered my network settings on my computer to use my DC as the DNS and it seemed to work last week, but now it's not working at all, it can't find my DC. So what should my next step be? Do I need to ask the university to do something their end or can I handle this setup from my end?From a DNS point of view I thought I could set the DNS address of all the client computers to point to our DC and then at the DC end add in the DNS address for the universitys DNS servers so it could forward queries it doesn't know about, does this sound ok?Many thanks

Hi, Yes, it is a DNS issue. When your clients get the IP address from the university DHCP server they also obtain DHCP options including DNS server address. It is sure that the university DNS server has not any records (SRV records and Host records) that are needed to locate your domain. To achieve the goal, you may consider the following 3 methods. - Still use university DHCP server and university DNS server 1. Create a new secondary DNS zone in the university DNS server. It should has the same name as DNS zone for your domain in your DNS server such as 'domain.com'. 2. Allow the Zone Transfer of the DNS zone on your DNS server to the university DNS server. With this, all your clients will still use university DNS server. However, it now contains your domain zone. This should enable your clients to locate the new domain properly. - Use static IP address and point all clients to your domain DNS server. - Create your own DHCP server with DHCP option including your DNS server address However, if all computers are in a subnet (broadcast domain), it will be much complicated for DHCP server to distinguish your clients from clients of university. Hope this helps.