I have set up a server based on windows server 2008 R2, and has successfully joined 2 clients (one PC and one laptop, both windows 7) to the domain.
Today I was trying to join another laptop to the domain. It has windows 8.1 on it. It recognized the domain name well, and asked for username and password. But it couldn't join, and give the following error:
The following error occurred attempting to join the domain.
The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.
On other clients before, I had set the preferred DNS server to 192.168.1.33. and they had successfully joined the domain. (They were all windows 7)
In the new client laptop (windows 8.1), under network and sharing center, the properties of IPv4, I set the preferred DNS server to 192.168.1.33 but it didn't work. Then changed it to 127.0.0.1 but again it didn't work.
The similar topics (like "The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted" when joining a computer the domain) suggest to check DNS, but don't give a clear solution. They say the number 1 rule is to check DNS. OK, sure; But, How should I do this?
How can I solve this problem!!?
Your time and help is highly appreciated.
P.S. 1
The following is the result of ipconfig/all
run from server PC:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Administrator>ipconfig/all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : SAPNA
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : SAPNA.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : SAPNA.local
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 9:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Anchorfree HSS VPN Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-7D-96-A7-FE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E
Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-D0-D1-58-A3
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::345d:4bf0:d080:a8ac%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.33(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, May 15, 2016 1:37:22 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, May 16, 2016 1:37:22 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::1%12
192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 251666384
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1E-BD-1C-4D-00-1F-D0-D1-58-A3
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : ::1
127.0.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet
1
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::4507:6e27:a2:1b65%16(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.153.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 419450966
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1E-BD-1C-4D-00-1F-D0-D1-58-A3
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet
8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d04c:7fcb:8586:aac0%18(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.40.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 453005398
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1E-BD-1C-4D-00-1F-D0-D1-58-A3
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Tunnel adapter isatap.{76D09E79-629B-4FB9-A0DA-FA7FBB337287}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{F8119BC6-91C4-480A-AE3F-D26B3C21038E}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{7D96A7FE-A04E-43BB-8A17-C0F583BD8A07}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{59DA0B44-2E23-442B-89AD-C39945CA10C9}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
C:\Users\Administrator>
Edit 1
These are the nslookup
results:
The Server PC trying to look up one of the client PCs:
C:\Users\Administrator>nslookup PC-SH
Server: localhost
Address: ::1
Name: PC-SH.SAPNA.local
Address: 192.168.1.37
The server PC trying to look up itself:
C:\Users\Administrator>nslookup SAPNA
Server: localhost
Address: ::1
Name: SAPNA.SAPNA.local
Addresses: 192.168.40.1
192.168.153.1
192.168.1.33
Edit 2
The nslookup
command running on a wireless laptop which has successfully joined the domain, results in DNS Request Timed Out, no matter what to look up, whether itself, the server, or other PCs!
Edit 3
It seems that the problem is with the windows-8.1 laptop. Because I just added another wireless laptop with windows 7 to the domain successfully.
nslookup
on the win8.1 client. I suspect it is not getting the search domain. In which case, check your DNS settings.