MCSE rookie need help

>-----Original Message-----
>
>Hello I'm interested of learning MCSE on my own. I bought
books etc. and
>also a copy of Window 2000 advance server. I did a clean
installed on my
>pc but however i ran into this problem. I am on the
first step doing
>Active Directory


There are many reasons why this can occur, one of which
was suggested in another post. For example, it doesn't
work if the network card is not plugged into a switch /
hub and you are trying to work with "cable unplugged".

First: you don't need to know how or why the
following "tools" work, just use them as stated. You will
learn.

Basically, if you go START / RUN and enter "cmd" for the
command prompt, type "ipconfig" and have a look at the
result. You will see the IP of your network card. Let's
assume your network card is functioning and static IP is
192.168.0.1.

Now, type "tracert 192.168.0.1" and have a look at the
result. What you want is for it to instantly come back
with something like

1 <10ms <10ms <10ms server.sobi.com [192.168.0.1]

Keep the above in mind, because that is the goal. My
guess is that it doesn't, and it needs to for AD
installation to work.

Check that you have 192.168.0.1 (or whatever your server
IP is) as a DNS server to search for on your network card
under TCP/IP properties.

DNS needs to be installed and running as a service. (To
potential flamers: Yes I know about Right Click my
computer and Manage to get to DNS, BUT...) Use START /
Settings / Control Panel / Administrative tools / DNS.

You should have the server name listed there. When you
expand the server, there should be forward and reverse
lookup zones. In the forward zone, you should have
sobi.com. If you look at the properties of this zone, it
should be a primary zone or active directory integrated
and you should have Only secure updates; the primary
server as server.sobi.com (this assumes server is the name
of the server?); and the name server should be
server.sobi.com.

In the right window, there should be a Host record
for "server", with the IP number 192.168.0.1. My guess is
that there isn't, that most of what I have said so far is
missing.

In the Reverse lookup, you should have a zone for your IP
subnet, like 192.168.0.x Subnet. This is where the
pointer records sit, like

192.168.0.1 Pointer server.sobi.com


This allows you to type "tracert 192.168.0.1" and it will
reverse lookup the IP and resolve server.sobi.com. If
you "tracert server.sobi.com" it will resolve the IP and
run the IP trace back to your network card in lightning
quick time. When you can do these things, DNS is
functioning and your AD installation will work.

Marko