Work computer on home LAN

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob
  • Start date Start date
R

Rob

Hi All,

I have a work PC which belongs to a domain. I bring it home to do work on
and I would like it to connect to my home LAN so I can use the printer,
share files etc. The work PC connects to the home LAN via a wireless PCMCIA
card and I can successfully connect to the internet but my work and home PC
cannot "see" each other. What is the best way to overcome this, preferably
without making too many changes to the work PC,

Thanks in advance,

Rob
 
Assuming you can have it and not return it for a while...SysPrep it and setup
the PC for a home workgroup.

Dave
 
I assume you have the ability to ping the other machine. If so then make
sure your work user account is on the home PC and be sure file and print
sharing is enabled on both computers as well as the server service. Check
this article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;258717

I would not recommend running sysprep unless you like spending time with
your system administrator.
 
You should talk to your System Administrator about this.
He will have to fix it up if you break the work environment.

An easy way might be a dual boot so that the two
environments are kept completely separate.
 
What is the best way to overcome this, preferably
without making too many changes to the work PC,

Find a program like NetSwitcher, which will let you keep "work" and
"home" setups, from which you can pick at boot.
 
Check with your administrator at work to see if it is ok per any user
policy - it might not be due to risk of bringing virus or trojan back to
the domain, etc. If it is acceptable, then setting up the current operating
system could be very easy to impossible depending on security settings on
your machine [lan manager authentication level, ipsec policies, smb signing,
secure channel, etc]. If you are using dhcp and have a local computer
account [where you log onto local machine], then it may be as simple as
creating user account/password on your home computers that match that
account. You do not have to be in the same workgroup as other computers to
access their resources - user credentials and proper share/ntfs permissions
on the computer being accessed is what is important. Do NOT attempt to
change the computer membership from domain to workgroup, as MANY lock
themselves out that way. -- Steve
 
Based upon what criteria -- please elaborate.

Dave

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
| Don't change the work computer to use the workgroup instead of the domain -
| you'll regret it.
 
First of all most people use their computer as a tool to do their job, they
create files, read email, etc.
My sales force for example are administrators on their laptops because I
cannot foresee all obstacles of constant travel without connecting to the
network either physically or via vpn.
If they were to pull their computer out of the domain, They would lose their
ability to log on, because they do not know the admin account or password.
At this point they call me and I tell them how to get in, the next question
is where are my files? Now their profile needs to be found because surprise
they are logged in with another account and have a new profile. Thank God I
have exchange because the next question is where is my email? I have got to
respond to this client now. I then have to get them on OWA for the next week
so they can work.
Imagine now if you will, that they somehow managed to sysprep their laptop.
Now they need a key. I know it's on the sticker, but this is an hour long
process to go through the wizard in addition to the above.

Changing your computer to a workgroup is something that I will regret and I
guarantee you, they will regret.


--
Regards,

Michael Holzemer
No email replies please - reply in newsgroup

Learn script faster by searching here
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/scriptcenter/default.asp
 
Hi Guys,

thanks for all of the advice. I think I may have solved the problem. I think
it was because I have ZoneAlarm on my home PC. I added the range
192.168.0.1 -> 192.168.0.9 to the "trusted zone". My PCs can now ping each
other by their computer names, to browse in explorer, I need to go to
MyNetworkPlaces>>EntireNetwork then click on either Workgroup or WorkDomain.
It might not be the best solution but I can now use my home printer and
share files,

Cheers,

Rob
 
To what end? It isn't necessary, you'll lose your locally cached profile
(and hence ability to do your work, one presumes, and you'll irritate your
domain admin. Most admins I know won't even grant local admin access to
laptop users (I don't), and this is only one of the reasons. Users are given
the laptops in specific working order, and they are not permitted to install
software or modify the configuration in any way. Work computer does not
equal home computer.

Oh, and as I said, it isn't necessary.

Based upon what criteria -- please elaborate.

Dave

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
Don't change the work computer to use the workgroup instead of the
domain - you'll regret it.
 
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