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Windows 98 Cannot Join a Windows Server 2008 Domain (dsforum2wiki)

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To Join a Domain

To join a Windows 98 workstation to a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 domain, follow these steps: 

  1. Install the DSCLIENT utility for Windows 98. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 288358 for download and installation instructions.

  2. Make sure that the following hotfixes are installed on the Windows 98 client. Enable NTLM2 Authentication on your Windows 98 client, as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 239869.

    1. Client cannot log on if unicode string is passed to NTLM security support provider interface Microsoft Knowledge Base article 266772 
    2. One unsuccessful logon attempt may trigger the default Windows NT lockout policy Microsoft Knowledge Base article 271496
    3. Exception 0E in Vredir error messages when you open network files Microsoft Knowledge Base article 293793

  3. Weaken the security of your domain by editing the domain's Group Policy.

    1. In Group Policy (gpmc.msc), edit the Domain Policy.

    2. Expand Computer Configuration, expand Windows Settings, expand Security Settings, expand Local Policies, and then click Security Options.

    3. In the list of available policies, double-click Network security: Do not store LAN Manager hash value on next password change, and then Disable that policy.

  4. Make sure that a WINS server is running on your network.

  5. Make sure that the Windows 98 client is enabled to use WINS and the local domain DNS server. 

  6. Change the password of the user account that you plan to use to join the Windows 98 client computer to the domain. This enables the password to use a LAN Manager hash.

  7. Try to join the Windows 98 client to the domain.

Important Notes 

  • Windows 98 is no longer officially supported or tested by Microsoft. There is no guarantee or official support for connectivity and compatibility for Windows 98 in a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 domain.
  • Disabling security policies reduces the security of your network. For more information, see Security configuration guidance support in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 885409