Check if Computer is in the Domain

Question:

Is there any way how to remotely check if the specified computer is member of domain? I know of the WMI way, but what about on Win98 without WMI installed? I need to check if a computer is joined in a domain. For 2000 and XP machines, the win32 Network Extender function wntLsaPolGet solved my problem but is there any similar solution for w9x and NT systems?

Answer:

The wntLsaPolGet() function will work on WinNT, too. Win2K and WinXP are simply newer versions of WinNT, and all of them are part of the NT platform family.

There is no solution for Win9x systems, per se, other than reading the registry and determining if the system is configured to logon to a domain. Win9x systems do not join a domain in the same manner that WinNT/2K/XP systems join a domain.

Start by looking in:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon[DefaultDomain]

This is the only thing that tells whether or not a Win9x system is configured to logon to a domain. Win9x systems do not get computer accounts in a domain and there is no secured channel established where the workstation itself logs on to the domain using a computer account so that DCs in the domain can be trusted to authenticate domain user logon requests on the workstation. Instead, Win9x simply requests a DC to authenticate a domain users's credentials and then stores the access token for use in accessing network resources that require authenticated user credentials.

Article ID:   W16037

File Created: 2004:03:30:15:42:24

Last Updated: 2004:03:30:15:42:24

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