Normally when you promote BDC to the PDC, the existing PDC is automatically demoted to a BDC. When the old PDC is restarted, it will still think it's the PDC, but when it detects another PDC it will stop its own netlogon service

1.) My LAN consists of Windows 2000 Server and ten Windows 2000 Professional clients, with remote management enabled on all the systems. From one particular system, I have been getting an error message saying "Unable to perform remote shutdown". What is the problem?
The problem you are facing could be due to the following reasons:

1. The "Wake on LAN" feature is not enabled for your network card in the system BIOS or your BIOS does not support the "Wake on LAN" feature
2. The power management settings are not enabled in your system
3. The "Server Service" is not running on your system

You can do the following to solve it:

1. Enable "Wake on LAN" feature in your BIOS:
Please refer to your motherboard manual for more details about enabling the "Wake on LAN" feature, as BIOS differs from system to system. If the BIOS settings are enabled then proceed as follows.

2. Power management settings:
In your system, ensure that the following power management settings for the network adapter are enabled. (To access Power management, click on Start - Settings - Control Panel, and select the Power Options icon. Then, enable the following settings under Power management tab).

"Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby"

"Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

3. The "Server Service" is not running on your system:
There is also a possibility that the "Server Service" is not running or stopped. To resolve this start this service as follows:

• Click on Start - Settings - Control Panel
• Double click on the Services icon and ensure the Server Service is started and running

2.) In our workgroup we have five Windows 98 machines and ten Windows 2000 Professional machines. Users are unable to find my machine on the Network Neighborhood.
We suggest you do the following to solve the problem:

Install the TCP/IP and Net BEUI protocols on the workstations:

• Click Start - Setting - Control Panel and double-click Networks
• Click Add - Protocol
• In the Manufacturers box, click Microsoft. In the Network Services box, click a protocol. Select TCP/IP and Net BEUI
• Click OK till you exit the dialog

Install Client for Microsoft Networks using the steps given below:

• Click Start - Settings - Control Panel and double-click Networks
• On the Configuration tab, click Add
• Click Client, and then click Add
• In the Manufacturers box, click Microsoft. In the Network Clients box, click Client For Microsoft Networks

Install File and Printer Sharing using the steps given below:

• Click Start - Setting - Control Panel and double-click Networks
• Click Add - Service
• In the Manufacturers box, select Microsoft. In the Network Services box, click File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks, click OK
• Restart your computer when you are prompted to do so

3.) How do I send an instant message to the other users on a LAN in the Windows environment?
To send an instant message to any other user on a LAN, you will have to use an application called Winpopup in Windows.

Click on Start - Run, type Winpopup and click on OK. You will get a Winpopup window.

Follow the steps given below in order to send popup messages on a LAN:

• Open Winpopup, select Messages menu and click Send
• To send a message to an individual, click User or Computer
• To send a message to everyone, click Workgroup
• Fill in the requested information, and then type your message
• Now click on Ok

Follow these steps in order to view a popup message sent over the LAN:

• Click on the Winpopup icon in the task bar after it has popped up
• Now the current message is visible. To see other messages, select Next or Previous from the Messages menu

To receive messages, ensure that WinPopup is running in the background.

4.) How can I synchronize all the servers in a LAN with a Windows NT Server? Can I use Network Time Protocol (public time server) to synchronize servers?
The Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Resource Kit includes the utility Timeserv.exe file that allows for the synchronization of a Windows NT server with any of the public time servers. Many different time servers are available and the port through which that connection is made is based upon which RFC's (Request For Comments - It refers to a document in which a standard, a protocol, or other information pertaining to the operation of the Internet is published.) that individual time server is compliant with. If you want to change the port number to which the Timeserv.exe file connects, use any other standard text editor.

5.) If the PDC (Primary Domain Controller) crashes, how do I promote the BDC (Backup Domain Controller) to a PDC and the old PDC to BDC?
Normally when you promote a BDC to the PDC, the existing PDC is automatically demoted to a BDC. When the old PDC is restarted, it will still think it's the PDC, but when it detects another PDC it will stop its own netlogon service. To actually modify the machine to be a BDC the registry needs to be changed. Follow the steps given below:

• Logon to the machine as an Administrator, start the registry editor (regedt32.exe)
• Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security
• Select Permissions from the Security menu
• Select Administrators and change the access type to Full Control, check the Replace Permission on Existing Subkeys and click OK
• You can now navigate the Security menu, move down to Policy\PolSrvRo
• Double click on the Default and change the second digit (which should be 3 for a PDC) to a 2 (which means BDC). Click OK. E.g. 03000000 to 02000000
• You should now reset the Security on the Security part of the registry using the same method as before but changing back to Special Access for Administrators. The permissions for Administrators should be

- Write DAC

- Read Control

• Restart the machine and it will come up as a BDC

Please visit the following link for more information:

www.windows2000faq.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=14726

6.) I am not able to copy files from one computer to another on my LAN?
You face this problem when you do not have permission to copy those files. If you want to access files from other machines in a network, then you have to share the directory or the file in other system. Assuming that you are using Windows 98 to share a file, follow the steps on the system from which you want to copy:

• Right-click on the File you want to share
• Click on Properties, Sharing tab
• Select the option Shared As
• Then select the Access Type; Read Only or Full or Depends on Password according your needs
• Click on Apply and OK

7.) How can I connect my home computer to my office computer?
You can use HyperTerminal and a modem to connect to a remote computer, to send and receive files.

You can start Hyper Terminal by following these steps:

• Click on Start - Programs - Accessories
• Click on Communications and then select HyperTerminal

To use HyperTerminal, you will need to run it once and create a new connection profile. Please follow the steps given below:

• Run HyperTerminal and New Connection
• Enter a name and choose an icon for this connection. You will get a dialogue box with four items to be filled in:

1. "Country code" will have a default value of your country
2. "Area code" should be set to the area code from which you will be dialing
3. "Phone number" could be any of the numbers you would like to give
4. "Connect using:" identifies the type of modem in you computer

The value will be default to the type of modem in (or connected to) your computer (assuming it has been set). If the type of modem has not been set, it can be set in the Control Panel.

Visit the following links for more information on how to communicate using HyperTerminal:

• www.808hi.com/56k/x2-hyperterm.htm
• www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Pub/Fac/hyperterm.html

8.) How can I share a single Internet connection with any hardware device other then a proxy server?
You can share an Internet connection without using a proxy server. To do so, you can use WebRamp, a hardware device from Ramp Networks that will help you in sharing the Internet without using the proxy server. Check www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,340017,00.html for details on setting an Internet connection with out using the Proxy Server.

9.) We are maintaining a LAN and use HTTP & FTP services. Is it possible to map a drive to an FTP server?
It is possible to configure a machine to map to a FTP server as a drive (for instance the Microsoft site) provided the machine runs both NetBEUI and TCP/IP. Follow the following steps:

• Perform a NSLOOKUP for the FTP site, e.g. nslookup ftp.microsoft.com
• Make a note of the IP address
• Edit the LMHOSTS file (in %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc)
• Add the following line: <ip address> MicrosoftFTP #PRE, e.g. 207.46.133.140 MicrosoftFTP #PRE
• Save the file
• Open a CMD.EXE session. Enter command: nbtstat -R
• This purges and reloads the name table cache. Now, type command: net view \\MicrosoftFTP
• You should see information on the site. Now map a drive (to share data): net use * \\MicrosoftFTP\data /user:anonymous
• All done. It will now pass a drive letter for the connection

10.) How can I share files and printer between a Linux machine and Windows machine?
Using Samba will enable your Linux server to be seen as a Windows machine, enabling a Windows machine to use some resources on a Linux server. Samba can support only TCP/IP and there is no support to run Samba over NetBEUI or IPX/SPX. In order to use Samba your machines must be on a single Ethernet LAN segment using the TCP/IP protocol.

Samba is a Linux implementation of the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol. The SMB protocol is the core of NetBIOS or LanManager. It will thus allow you to share Linux directories and printers with Windows 95/ 98, Windows NT or any other network client supporting NetBIOS or LanManager without requiring specific software on the client side.

Visit the following link for more information on installation and configuring Samba:
www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/SMB-HOWTO.html