MS Press...Windows 98 computer cannot be in domain

I'm reading the MS Press book and doing MeasureUp questions and have conflicting answers possibly....

At the top of 5-14 it says only computers based on NT technologies can be members of a domain.
He exclusively says 98, 95, and ME cannot join or maintain computer accounts.

I'm assuming they mean a Windows 2003 domain, because I remember having Windows 98 computers running with a Windows 2000 Domain Controller.

I'm also doing Measureup and it talks about how a Windows 98 client cannot connect to the network and it says the reason is because somebodys password is over 14 characters.
It also mentions an AD client that can be installed on Windows 98, which I'm assuming allows domain access.

Huh?

The measureup questions assumes the Windows 98 computer can join a domain, while the book says it cannot.

Huh?

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Claymoore

Windows 98 clients cannot join a domain - an NT, 2000 or 2003 domain - meaning they will not have a computer account in the domain. You can plug a Win98 PC into your network and access resources, but the machine will not be a domain member.

The AD client allows Windows 98 to become DNS aware and locate domain controllers through DNS like 2000/XP clients would. More information can be found here.

Windows 98 only recognizes passwords that are 14 characters or less. If your domain password is 15 characters, the Windows 98 logon process (that will query a 2003 domain if you install the AD client) won't accept the password and won't even try to authenticate to the domain.

Goldmember

Thats kind of a wordy situation.

Do Windows machines get authenticated by the domain controller?

How come Windows 98 Machines have the option to logon to NT domain?

Under Client for Microsoft Networks you can choose to logon to NT domain and provide the domain name for a Windows 98 computer.

huh?

Megadeth4168

what he is saying is that Windows 9x machines cannot join a domain. They can participate in a sense that you can log a user in with a domain account but the you won't be able to apply a computer group policy, also other Active Directory Features also do not apply to Win9x clients.
I hope that simplifies things a bit.

Claymoore

Goldmember wrote:

Thats kind of a wordy situation.

Maybe this will help

Goldmember wrote:

Do Windows machines get authenticated by the domain controller?

Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista - Yes
Windows 95/98/ME - No

Goldmember wrote:

How come Windows 98 Machines have the option to logon to NT domain?

They don't - only users log on. The Client for Microsoft Networks on the PC authenticates the user account against an NT domain controller. The AD Client allows the 98 PC to query and authenticate the user against Active Directory (2000 or 2003).

Goldmember wrote:

Under Client for Microsoft Networks you can choose to logon to NT domain and provide the domain name for a Windows 98 computer.

Providing a domain name does not create a computer account in the domain and thus make the 98 PC a member of the domain.

The domain name you provide gives the Windows 98 user logon process the information it needs to locate a domain controller by searching the correct WINS database for a domain controller record. The client logon process then contacts the domain controller and authenticates the user who is attempting to log on. The AD Client allows 98 machines to query the DNS zone for SRV records so they may locate a domain controller and authenticate the user who is attempting to log on.

If you think this is confusing, wait until 291 when you have to sort out when 98 machines support IPSec and when they don't. Which client supports which RAS protocol is a real pain.

Goldmember

I didn't think it was confusing at all.

It makes complete sense, except for the fact that Microsoft never found a way to incorporate Windows 98 machines into domain policy.

Thanks for the help.