DNS Issues and Windows XP

Often I have seen the issue of Windows XP having difficulties logging into or using resources in a Domain. In all cases, DNS has been the culprit. The lack or or an incorrectly configured DNS server can cause XP to have difficulties anywhere from very long logon times to lack of group policies applying to a host of other issues.

DNS Server Under DNS, make sure you have a forward and reverse lookup zone for your IP range whether it is a public range or a private range behind a firewall.
If there is a Root zone ( . ) then delete it. You can also delete any forward or reverse zones that are Not in your IP Range. Create a DNS Forwarder that points to you ISP DNS Servers.
This should be the ONLY place on your entire network that actually has the ISP DNS servers listed..

DHCP Server Add a scope for your IP Range that you are using whether it is Public or Private. Under Properties - Tick the box that says to automatically register legacy clients in DNS.

Under Scope Options make sure you have the following. The ONLY DNS Server listed here should be your Internal Windows 2000 DNS server, not the ISP DNS servers otherwise XP clients will get confused.

003 Router Standard xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (Your IP of your Firewall (internal) OR the Router (external)
006 DNS Servers Standard xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (The IP of your Windows NT/2000 DNS Server Only)
015 DNS Domain Name Standard network.local (The DNS name of your Network).

Windows XP/2000 Clients For clients using DHCP - Make sure the box under DNS Advanced button that says "Register this connections address in DNS" is ticked. This is defaulted to being ticked unless you have unticked it previously.

For clients using Static IP's - Under the IP's make sure that the DNS Server listed is the IP of your Windows 2000 DNS Server. DELETE any instances of your ISP's DNS. Tick the box under DNS Advanced button that says "Register this connections address in DNS" Put in the Gateway as either your Firewall (internal) or the District Router (External).

Basically it will look like this:

Windows XP - gets IP, internal DNS, and Router from DHCP Server
Registers itself in Windows DNS Server If wanting to access the internet -> contacts Windows Internal DNS Server -> DNS Uses Forwarder to forward request to ISP DNS Servers -> Internet Access.