client dhcp problem

[jayscot]

I have a Win2k server network with dhcp, wins, dns, active directory, etc...

After a hard disk crash I had to reinstall my domain which left me removing and adding 20+ win2k, XP, ME, and 98 clients to the domain. They went in without a hitch except for 2-win2k boxes and 1-ME box.

After removing the 3 uncooperative boxes from the domain (by setting them to a workgroup) I tried re-adding them to the domain (same way I did all the others), but this time I get "unable to contact domain...yada yada..." error message. Upon checking ipconfig I notice that a different IP and subnet have been automatically assigned by the workstation.

With this IP the workstation assigned to itself I can't even ping the server (because it's different than the rest of my domain). After a dozen or so reboots/shutdowns I gave in and statically assigned IP's to these machines and they worked.

...But the problem is dhcp worked fine before, and I want to use dhcp. It seems like a catch-22. If I set the client to use dhcp it can't see the server because it assigns itself a weird IP. Poked around in the registry too, but that ddidn't help. Also tried manually removing and adding on the server.


Thanks for any help...

 

[ShackDaddy]

The 'weird' IP is probably the '169.x.x.x' that Microsoft programs systems that can't reach a DNS server to use temporarily. Even with this IP, the system will still broadcast a query every 5 minutes trying to find a DHCP server, so they might eventually get an address and come online in the proper subnet. Are you sure that your scope is not full? Have you deleted the old DHCP-created entries for these systems from your DNS zone? Are these systems in the same subnet as the DHCP server?

ShackDaddy

 

[jayscot]

Oh man! I'm a moron... I failed to authorize the dhcp server.

Now it works fine.

Thanks for your help. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't gone back to re-checked the dhcp server.