Hi guys,

I have a notebook setup to connect to a domain. Will any user with a domain account be able to login to the domain from a home?

In other words if, the user inputs the domain credentials and select the right domain from the drop-down, can they login?

Not that simply, no.

Not that simply, no.

Is it even possible?

Yes, what would have to be setup is a VPN or dialup solution that would connect as part of the authentication process. You would check the box on the logon screen that would "dial" the remote connection that you would have to setup for all users in advance.

Jim

Actually yes, you can. Windows stores your cached profile and credentials and will let you authenticate on the machine even if it is not connected physically to the domain.

basically it depends. It depends upon policies pushed to the machine via GPO and wether or not the domain controller is able to be contacted from off-site, via VPN or not.

And even if you have cached credentials it could break on them when away from the domain if they are set to expire, or if they are set to be cleared or not used if they are entered incorrectly. (Both situations I have had to deal with in previous jobs)

So you should start by finding out ow your domain is set and what policies are pushed.

Too bad I can't test any of these myself. I'm setting up this notebook for a user going out of state, she really doesn't need to get on the domain but I figured I set it up that way in case she needed access to the network drives.

I guess I could ask her to log into the domain to see if it works.

If you are not sure you may want to create a local account for her to log onto to be on the safe side.

You could also join it to the domain log in and then disconnect from the network, reboot and test the above scenario's to make sure she wouldn't run into any problems.

best bet if there is a GPO that is running on the domain that at least the last 3 profiles are cached, have her log onto the machine and then log off, pull the network cable and then then have her log on again, if she can get on the profile caching is setup on the machine, granted she can't get to any network resource unless she has a VPN connection. VPN is fairly easy to setup on server 2003 if you are a smaller company.

Thanks guys...Good info to add to my knowledge bag.

She'll be fine, I created a local account just in case...I tested IcemanND's suggestion earlier without any issues.

My dad's laptop is part of a domain and he can login just fine from home. Since Windows caches your profile and settings once you've logged into the domain the first time (like nitroshift mentioned), you shouldn't have a problem logging in. However, you won't be able to access any network files unless (like a few people have already mentioned) you connect to your network through a VPN.