Join the Domain and Log On by using Wireless Method 3

  • Article

Updated: October 4, 2010

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP

In this method, users manually configure the wireless connection settings on computers that are running Windows XP, based on instructions that you provide them. The configuration allows users to establish a wireless connection and then join the domain. After the computer is joined to the domain and restarted, users can log on to the domain by using a wireless connection and their domain account credentials.

General steps

  1. The IT administrator configures a local computer administrator account, in Control Panel, for the user.

Important

To configure the necessary wireless connection settings and join a computer to a domain, the user must be logged on to the computer with a local Administrator account. In addition, the user must have a user account in the domain to which the user wants to join the computer. During the process of joining the computer to the domain, the user will be prompted for domain account credentials (user name and password).

  1. The IT administrator provides the user with the following items:

    • A wireless computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

    • The instructions to manually configure the wireless connection settings in the properties of the wireless connection in Network Connections, as documented in the procedure that follows, “Manually configure wireless connection settings for Windows XP.”

      When you (the IT administrator) give your users the instructions to manually configure their wireless connection settings, you must provide the following values for your wireless network:

      • Network name (SSID): Specify the service set identifier for your wireless network.

      • Connect even if this network is not broadcasting: Specify whether to clear this check box if your wireless APs are not configured to suppress the broadcast beacon or to select this check box if your wireless APs are configured to suppress the broadcast beacon.

      • Network Authentication: Specify Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or WPA2.

      • Data encryption: Specify Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

      • Validate server certificate: Specify whether to clear this check box if you have deployed a private certification authority (CA) on your network to issue server certificates to your NPS servers or whether to select this check box if you have purchased server certificates for your servers running Network Policy Server (NPS) from a public CA which are already trusted by your network clients.

      • Trusted Root Certification Authorities: Specify the name of the CA that issued the server certificate to your NPS server.

Tip

The procedure “Manually configure wireless connection settings for Windows XP” provides a step to specify the CA that issued server certificates to your NPS servers. To simplify the instructions given to your users for configuring wireless connection settings, retain this step regardless of whether Validate server certificate is selected or cleared. 

  - Both the local computer credentials (user name and password), and domain credentials (domain user account name and password) in the form *DomainName\\UserName*.  
      
  - The procedures about joining the computer to the domain, and about logging on to the domain, which are provided later in this topic and documented in the Windows Server 2008 Foundation Network Guide.

Manually configure wireless connection settings for Windows XP

  1. Log on to the computer with your local computer Administrator account.

  2. Click Start, point to Connect To, and then click Show all connections. Network Connections opens.

  3. In Network Connections, in LAN or High-Speed Internet, right-click your wireless network connection, and then click Properties. The Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog box opens.

  4. In Wireless Network Connection Properties, click the Wireless Networks tab.

  5. On the Wireless Networks tab, click Add. The Wireless Network properties dialog box opens.

  6. On the Association tab, in Network name (SSID), type the SSID value specified by your administrator.

  7. In Connect even if this network is not broadcasting, select or clear the check box as specified by your administrator. By default, this check box is cleared.

  8. In Network Authentication, select TKIP or AES as specified by your administrator.

  9. Ensure that This is a computer-to-computer (ad-hoc) network: wireless access points are not used is cleared, and then click the Authentication tab.

  10. On the Authentication tab, ensure that Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network is selected.

  11. In EAP type, select Protected EAP (PEAP), and then click Properties. The Protected EAP Properties dialog box opens.

  12. On the Protected EAP Properties dialog box, in Validate server certificate, select or clear the check box as specified by your administrator.

  13. In Trusted Root Certification Authorities, select the CA specified by your administrator.

  14. In Select Authentication Method, ensure Secured password (EAP-MSCHAP v2) is selected, and then click OK two times. The Protected EAP Properties dialog box closes, and the Authentication tab closes, returning you to the Wireless Networks tab.

  15. On the Wireless Network tab, in Preferred networks, select the SSID that you specified in step 6 of this procedure, and then click Move up until the wireless network is positioned at the top of the list in Preferred networks.

  16. Click OK. The Wireless Network Connection Properties closes, returning you to Network Connections.

  17. Close Network Connections.

To join computers running Windows XP to the domain

  1. Log on to the computer with your local computer Administrator account.

  2. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. The System Properties dialog box opens.

  3. Click Change. The Computer Name Changes dialog box opens.

  4. In Computer Name Changes, in Member of, select Domain, and then type the name of the domain you want to join. For example, if the domain name is example.com, type example.com.

  5. Click OK. The Computer Name Changes dialog box opens. In User name, type the domain user account name, and in Password, type the domain user password, and then click OK.

  6. The Computer Name Changes dialog box opens, welcoming you to the domain.

  7. Click OK. The Computer Name Changes dialog box displays a message indicating that you must restart the computer to apply the changes.

  8. Click OK.

  9. In the System Properties dialog box, on the Computer Name tab, click OK, to close the System Properties dialog box. The System Settings Change dialog box opens, and displays a message, again indicating that you must restart the computer to apply the changes.

  10. Click Yes.

Log on to the domain using computers running Windows XP

  1. Log off the computer, or restart the computer.

  2. Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE. The Log On to Windows dialog box appears.

  3. If Log on to is not displayed, click Options.

  4. In Log on to, in the drop down list, select your domain. For example, in the example.com domain, select EXAMPLE.

  5. Type your domain and user name in the format domain\user. For example, to log on to the example.com domain with an account named User-01, type example\User-01.

  6. In Password, type your domain password, and then press ENTER.