Logging onto a network

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Guest

Hi, i have 4 computers, 3 of which are running XP home, one running xp media
center. What i am trying to do is logon to the network as a whole instead of
logging on to the computers individually. I don't know if i need a server, or
if there is a add in for this. Basically what i am trying to do is create one
general logon point. any help on this would be great
 
bminge said:
Hi, i have 4 computers, 3 of which are running XP home, one running xp media
center. What i am trying to do is logon to the network as a whole instead of
logging on to the computers individually. I don't know if i need a server, or
if there is a add in for this. Basically what i am trying to do is create one
general logon point. any help on this would be great
Click to expand...

I don't understand what you mean by "logon to the network as a whole".
Whether you have a domain or a Workgroup, you always need to log onto
individual computers.

Perhaps you mean that you want a central place from which to manage
things? Describing exactly what you want to accomplish will help us help
you.

In any case, you cannot create a domain without a server. A server is a
machine running a server operating system such as MS Small Business
Server or Windows 2003 Server (full Server is way overkill for such a
small network). Then you have workstations which are joined to the
domain. However, XP Home and Media Center cannot join a domain; only XP
Pro can join a domain. So in effect you would need to upgrade all your
computers to XP Pro and purchase a server machine or install a server
operating system on one of your computers.

Post back with what your end goal is for more focused help.


Malke
 
What i am trying to do is have control for my users. I want to be able to add
or remove a user from one point, that all the computers verify the entered
name and password on. If the password is not correct they are not able to log
on to the computer. Mostly it is for easy of me instead of going through to
all the computers when i wanna add a user to our system. I want to be able to
control if they are allowed to do certain tasks, (Ie. change time, date,
printers, settings, renaming drives, viewing certain files.
Thanks for your help
 
bminge said:
What i am trying to do is have control for my users. I want to be able to add
or remove a user from one point, that all the computers verify the entered
name and password on. If the password is not correct they are not able to log
on to the computer. Mostly it is for easy of me instead of going through to
all the computers when i wanna add a user to our system. I want to be able to
control if they are allowed to do certain tasks, (Ie. change time, date,
printers, settings, renaming drives, viewing certain files.
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

Then you do in fact want to run a server and create a domain. As I
previously said that will mean upgrading all your workstations to XP Pro
and having a nice beefy machine running Small Business Server 2003.


Malke
 
Are you positive that i will need to upgrade all of them. I was told by
microsoft that media center had exactly the same networking features as pro,
and was pushed towards this because of that fact. Also what would you
recommend for a computer for this (specs)
 
bminge said:
Are you positive that i will need to upgrade all of them. I was told by
microsoft that media center had exactly the same networking features as pro,
and was pushed towards this because of that fact. Also what would you
recommend for a computer for this (specs)
Click to expand...

Yes, I am positive that you will need to upgrade your workstations to XP
Pro. MCE certainly networks just fine, but it cannot join a domain
except if specified during installation.

I can't answer your question about what specs you need for your server
because I don't know what you are going to run on it. Since you don't
know anything about domain networking and this is apparently a business,
hire a local computer professional to come in and give you
recommendations and set you up correctly.


Malke
 
Hey, I appreciate your help a lot. I have our workgroup set up fine, but am
an owner in our restaurant and trying to get somthing a little more easy for
me to set up. I appreciate it a lot. Thanks
 
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