Local Machine vs Domain vs Workgroup

[larrys]

I have a Domain/Workgroup question.

I maintain 2 "profiles", or logons, on my laptop: One, is local machine, which I use at home, the desktop has game icons, etc...

The other, COMPANY domain, is tailored for work. It has certain Excel add-ons and customizations which I use at the office, and no game stuff on the screen. Keeps me focused

Now, I went to a client the other day, to work for a few days and they have a Workgroup to share files. So, from my domain logon, I went in and said lets join the Client workgroup. Well, when I rebooted, I was on my Local Machine pofile, with non-work icons on my desktop, and none of my office shortcuts were available. I said forget it, so I logged off and tried to get back onto my Company domain, which I could not since the domain was 200 miles away at the time.

I did return to the office, and was able to re-establish my Company domain. But, I am returning to the client 1/week for the next month or so.

So, finally to the question. Is it possible to log onto my work domain at the client site, and get access to their workgroup files while maintaining my Domain settings?

[Kyocera]

Get your IT people to set you up a remote desktop connection. I log on to our work domain several times a day on the road, either at a wireless hotspot or a wired connection.

You won't be able to actually use both networks i.e local and remote at the same time per se, like accessing folders and such ... your work domain is on a different subnet.

[tomh009]

Stay on the work domain (this is what I do).

If you need to connect to machine not on a domain (at a client site or at home), you can just do Start > Run > \\systemname.

Now, security can be an issue. If your user ID matches what you need, you will just need to type in the password. If the user ID is different, you may need to resort to the command prompt:

net use \\systemname /user:username
or
net use \\systemname /user:theirdomain\username

[larrys]

tom,

Thanks! I'll give it a shot next week when I go back.

L

[Kyocera]

tom009, how will that work without his domain controller available? I might learn something here

[tomh009]

tom009, how will that work without his domain controller available? I might learn something here

You only need a domain controller to log in the first time. After that you never really need it (as your logins are cached) unless you want to log in with a different user ID. In fact, I know of someone who is still running his personal laptop on his previous employer's domain, six+ months after leaving. His user ID is disabled on the domain, but as long as he doesn't connect to the domain, the laptop will keep working for ever, more or less.

As for connecting to an external resource (like a share directory or printer), the connection to a domain controller (if any) would be done by the "server" to authenticate the user who is attempting to make the connection. If the server's domain controller (or local user database) accepts the user, all is good. But the server doesn't even know who the user's domain controller is, so it's not needed here, either.

Hope that makes sense ...

[Kyocera]

Yes it does, I was assuming he had apps running on thier server that he wanted to use.

[tomh009]

It sounded to me like he wanted to access shared directories ... but as is often the case, the OP's exact intentions are open to speculation.

[larrys]

I *think* Tom understood my intent.

I wanted to maintain my company domain "logon" profile on my laptop while visiting my client, and I want to access my client's shared folders.

My client uses a workgroup to share folders amongst their various employess, and to use printers. No password or user ID is used to connect to the workgroup.

[tomh009]

OK ... so let's hope it all works for you next week!