Erratic Domain Logon from Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking (150053)

SYMPTOMS

Remote connection to a Windows NT domain fails using the Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking (DUN) client. Your logon scripts will not run, and you get the following error message:

No domain server was available to validate your password. You may not be able to gain access to some network resources.

Following this error you may be prompted with the domain logon dialog box requesting your user name, password, and domain name. In most cases you will eventually be able to connect but without domain validation.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you use a portable computer that was once connected locally to a LAN through a network interface card (NIC). The computer's NIC was not removed or disabled, and the first two octets of the DHCP-assigned subnetted class B IP address are the same for both the NIC and the dial-up adapter.

WORKAROUND

Create a hardware profile for remote connections that does not include the NIC as part of the installed hardware.

NOTE: After you have configured more than one hardware profile for a computer running Windows 95, a menu automatically appears during the booting process listing all available hardware profiles as numbered choices. The user may choose only one per computing session.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT and Windows 95.

A potential fix for this issue is documented in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

154434 You receive a "No domain server was available to validate your logon" error message when you use Dial-Up Networking in Windows 95 to dial into a remote network

MORE INFORMATION

This problem was reported by corporate users who normally connect their portable computers to a corporate LAN when at the office. When they travel, they use a Windows 95 DUN connection to access their company's network resources.

The problem usually appears under the following circumstances:

A portable computer running Windows 95 is connected to a local LAN using TCP/IP. The laptop NIC gets a DHCP-assigned, subnetted class B address.
Later, the computer is physically disconnected from the LAN, but the NIC remains in the computer.
From a remote location, the user attempts to dial in to an NT RAS server that allows access to the company's LAN.
The NT RAS server uses DHCP to assign an IP address to the remote DUN client.
If the first two octets of the subnetted class B address are the same for the client's NIC as for the PPP connection through the dial-up adapter, then the access problem may appear.