Hi all, for a few days I installed a new Windows Server 2008 R2 with Active Directory and Exchange Server on it. Overview Server: (that are not my exact Server and domain names, only examples) Server-Name: home-server Domain-Name: local.test IP: 192.168.2.2 Subnet: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.2.1 Primary-DNS: 127.0.0.1 Overview Client: Client-Name: home-laptop IP: 192.168.2.3 Subnet: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.2.1 Primary DNS: 192.168.2.2 Secondary DNS: 192.168.2.1 I joined with one of my Windows 7 Clients this domain and now I recognize one big problem: I cannot ping the domain-name (test.local) from my server. If I try to ping the domain-name from my Windows 7 Client I get the following error: C:\Users\"User"> ping local.test Ping request could not find host local.test. Please check the name and try again. But if I try to ping my server over the server-name (home-server) then I get the correct IP back? NSLOOKUP: C:\Users\"User"> nslookup Default Server: home-server.local.test Address: 192.168.2.2 > If I try to ping my domain-name from a Windows XP Client then I get no errors! What I have done: I have disabled IPv6 (on Client and Server) I have manually entered the DNS servers. (192.168.2.2 as primary dns-server) I have pinged the IP of the server --> Successfully I have pinged the Name of the server --> Successfully Any ideas on this? regards, Crus

Can you post the full results of ipconfig /all from the domain controller and the win7 client? At a guess I think the DNS zone for local.test is not set up correctly. Do you have reverse DNS set up? Try changing the primary DNS on the server to 192.168.2.2 instead of 127.0.0.1. Also try removing the secondary DNS on the win7 client. Note you may need to reboot after making the changes.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Results of IPCONFIG /ALL: Domain-Controller: C:\Users\Administrator>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : home-server Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : local-test.de Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : local-test.de Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2 192.168.2.1 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled C:\Users\Administrator>nslookup Default Server: home-server.local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 > local-test.de Server: home-server.local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 Name: local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 > Win7 Client: C:\Users\"User">ipconfig /all Windows-IP-Konfiguration Hostname . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home-Crus-Mobil Primres DNS-Suffix . . . . . . . : local-test.de Knotentyp . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP-Routing aktiviert . . . . . . : Nein WINS-Proxy aktiviert . . . . . . : Nein DNS-Suffixsuchliste . . . . . . . : local-test.de Ethernet-Adapter LAN-Verbindung: Verbindungsspezifisches DNS-Suffix: Beschreibung. . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168B/8111B Family PCI-E Gigab it Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20) Physikalische Adresse . . . . . . : xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx DHCP aktiviert. . . . . . . . . . : Nein Autokonfiguration aktiviert . . . : Ja IPv4-Adresse . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.10(Bevorzugt) Subnetzmaske . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Standardgateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1 DNS-Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2 192.168.2.1 NetBIOS ber TCP/IP . . . . . . . : Aktiviert C:\Users\Crusader>nslookup Standardserver: home-server.local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 > local-test.de Server: home-server.local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 Name: local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 > I already changed the Primary DNS-Entry on my server to 192.168.2.2 --> but still the same problem. I cannot remove the secondary DNS-Entry, because I want to route my internet-traffic directly over my router and not over my server! Any Ideas? Thanks in Advance for your help. regards, Crus

You'll have to remove the secondary DNS. Active directory relies on DNS. To access the Internet you need to setup a forwarder on the DNS server or delete the root zone so the DNS server will query the Internet root servers for non-local requests.http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows2000/en/advanced/help/sag_DNS_imp_UsingForwarders.htmhttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/323380You should also use the DC as a DHCP server for the clients. If you need a static IP then a reservation in the DHCP scope is the best way to do this. Using the DC for DHCP ensures that the client gets the correct settings for active directory.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Hello Kerry_Brown , thanks for your answer. Now I am a little bit confused, because in the past with "Windows Server 2003 R2" it was possible to configure it in this way. Is there really no chance that I can use on my clients two DNS-Entry's? Over my first dns-entry (192.168.2.2) should go all internal dns-querys through. (Domain) And over my second dns-entry (192.168.2.1, Router) there should go all external dns-querys through. (Internet) Reason: - Sometimes it is possible that my server is powered off and then my clients do not have access to the internet in this time. (without the second dns-entry) - And the second reason is that my hardware/performance from my server is very bad and I want to reduce the tasks for my server. --> delay Any ideas? regards, Crus

Even in Windows 2000 it was recommended to only use an AD integrated DNS server and no others. If you must do this then at least removethe secondary DNSfrom the server. Remove it from the client while joining the domain. Note that this may not be the only problem but it is the most obvious one. Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

thanks. So you think that there is really no chance to configure it so, that I can route my internet-traffic directly over my router and not over my server? That is the only thing what I am need. The internet-traffic should not go through my server! What I absolutely cant understand: Sometimes I get an reply if I ping the domain-name and sometimes not... It is possible that I am able to ping my domain over 10-15minutes and then suddenly (without any changes) I did not get an reply back from my ping! regards, Crus EDIT: One more crazy thing: If I am restarting my network interface (disable and enable) or if I plug out and plug in the network-cable on my client-pc I will again be able to ping the domain-name for 10-15minutes...

Having the DNS on the server is very different from routing the Internet through the server. Active Directory needs an AD integrated DNS server. To do anything else requires that you have an intimate knowledge of AD and how it uses DNS, then creating all the entries AD needs from DNS manually. This cannot be done with most routers as they are not DNS servers but DNS forwarders. Set up DNS on the server and use it. This will not route Internet traffic through the server only DNS queries. You are mixing up routing and DNS. They are not the same thing.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Hi again, ok sorry this was a language problem and a mistake from my side. (my english is not so good ;-/) I only tried to explain that I dont like to send my dns queries for external requests (internet-surfing) over my server. My clients should be able to get access to the internet without an server connection. (directly over my router) Any ideas how I could handle this? And why I get sometimes an reply from my ping-request and why sometimes not?

Active Directory relies on DNS and will not work reliably without it. Older clients (XP) would seem to work but if you look in the logs you see many warnings and errors if DNS was not configured properly. Older servers were similar.Until you try this change we can't confirm if this is the cause of the problem. Please try removing the secondary DNS on the server and the client, rebooting both afterwards. If this doesn't fix the problem we can move on to other troubleshooting steps. Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

ok I have removed now the secondary dns entry on my server and clients. (but as already explained: normally that is not that what I need!!!) After I had removed this secondary dns-entries I had a big problem with downloading files from websites like www.chip.de and so on. Browsing was ok but downloading was not working. Then I tried to change something on the gateway settings but nothing helped me out. And now I am in the worst case: Now my internet and ping is not working! Also if I try to change my settings completely back to my "default" settings I cant get it to work again... Only the network icon in the taskbar from windows shows me that the server should have an internet-connection! But I cant browse the internet. And it will not work with forwarder or without!

What are the results fornslookup microsoft.comKerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

What are the results for nslookup microsoft.com Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience C:\Users\Administrator>nslookup microsoft.com Server: home-server.local-test.de Address: 192.168.2.2 DNS request timed out. timeout was 2 seconds. DNS request timed out. timeout was 2 seconds. *** Request to home-server.local-test.de timed-out C:\Users\Administrator>

Have you installed DNS on the server? Is a firewall blocking it? What happens on the the server when you do the same thing e.g. nslookup microsoft.comKerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

the nslookup result from my post before was from the server and not from my client. On the server at the moment are no firewalls installed. (windows firewall is disabled) And I think that my earlier posts should give you the information that the dns-server is installed ;-D

It may be installed but it's not working :-) I recommend you look for help with configuring DNS and active directory properly on the Windows server forums. It's beyond the scope of this forum. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/windowsserver The problem is with the server not with Windows 7.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Hello, We have a Windows 2003 SBS Server (DOMAIN) in our company. Also there is another Windows 2003 SBS Server which has a Fortigate Firewall device connected to it. There are approx. 25 computers in the company. There are 3 computers running Windows 7 Professional. All of the other computers are running Windows XP. Only these 3 computers running Windows 7 Professional started to have a connection problem. The details are below. - Suddenly the connection to the server which is the domain provider has been lost. We can't connect to the files on this server. Connection to the exchange server has been lost. - Also it is not possible to open a page in Internet Explorer. - We can't ping this Windows 2003 SBS Server (Domain). But we can ping all other computers and the other Windows 2003 SBS Server. - Also nslookup command doesn't give us the domain address. - But the ethernet adapter is saying that it is connected to both serve and internet. "Currently connected to the ....(server name) and internet access" - But strangely Skype is running without any problem. - All of the other XP omputers doesn't have a problem. Only these 3 computers with Windows 7 have the problem. - These Windows 7 computers are connected to the server via wired ethernet switches. - All the Windows 7 computers and the server is fully updated. - We also reinstalled the ethernet adapters on the Windows 7 machines. Event viewer in the Windows 7 computers say that; "Name resolution for the name ........ timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded." We tried all the commands such as ipconfig /flushdns, also release, renew, etc. on the Windows 7 computer. None of them helped. We found a temporary (for a couple of minutes) solution for the problem from the Domain Server. - On the Windows 2003 SBS Server, we cleared the cache of DNS and restrted the DNS service. - Repair the connection of ethernet adapter connection on the Windows 2003 SBS Server. But after you do that the problem is solved for a limited time. The same problem appears after a couple of minutes. It seems that there is a problem with the connection between Windows 7 computers and the Windows 2003 SBS Server. Maybe a compatibility issue. We installed one of the Windows 7 computers 8 months a go. The other Windows 7 machine 3 months a go. This problem started a 2 months a go. After a week struggling with this issue, we couldn't find a solution. Then suddenly the problem disappeared. It doesn't seem a problem in the Windows 7 machines. It seems a compatibility issue in the Windows 2003 SBS Server. Then a couple of days ago it started again and we can't work now. It is a strange problem. If anyone can help, we'll appreciate it. Thank you. Best regards, Taylan