win2k3 server domain issue

i have a domain of @ 15 computers
first dc server 2003 with ad
then added a second dc via dcpromo that has server 2000

users cannot access shares on member machines (all running xp pro) including printers

at times people lose acces to the shares on shares on the 2003 server, all files are stored here.
there are no apps running on the servers

dns is running on the 2003 server
ad is in mixed mode
all machines have their primary dns set the server with secondary as our internet dns
group policy is set to allow domain users and everyone to access any machine remotely
at random times i can ping the computers via name or ip
computers seem to disapear then reapear on the network

 

First thing I'd do is remove that secondary DNS. It's only going to confuse matters and if you have DNS on the server configured correctly, it provides no useful purpose.

 

I agree, you should NEVER have external dns in any local tcp-ip settings. This goes for clients, servers and domain controlers. Your DNS server knows how to lookup domain names it is not authoratative for ... so don't get in its way. (dns root hints)

 

ive taken the external dns out, enabled forwarding
but still have issues to shares
there are 4 machines that have no issues
the 2 servers, my computer, and 1 other.
all others are will not allow access to shared printers/drives/ or anything else.
i cant even connect remotely to services as the domain admin or the event viewer

 

what ip do you get when you ping

netbios
Hostname
Hostname.domainname.com
Domainname
domainname.com

See if these are the same on both the working and not working computers

Post the ipconfig /all settings for both the working and non working computers

 

i found the problems

after i got rid of the dns that didnt need to be there, i discovered it was a trust errer
removing fromt he domain and reading seems to fix everything

 

Could be related to the dns .. more so if he was using the dns to try to auth to a ldap server on the internet.