Windows server 2003 on main computer

[Eyecan'tcode]

I'm about to begin practicing with Win Server 2003 so that I may get some hands on; currently I have a regular peer to peer network setup. I was thinking of installing the os on my main pc, which has xp home installed. When I install win 2003, will I be able to switch between the two types of networks without having to resetup anything?

[stiltman]

Are you dual botting the main PC?
Are you planning on joining the secondary PC(s) to the newly created domain?

If the Secondary PC(s) join the new domain, your changing things
However, you can logon localy (PC name) and they will work in Per to Per mode if you don't boot into the Server OS

That's if I have your question correct

[Eyecan'tcode]

Are you dual botting the main PC?

Yes

Are you planning on joining the secondary PC(s) to the newly created domain?

Yes

If the Secondary PC(s) join the new domain, your changing things
However, you can logon localy (PC name) and they will work in Per to Per mode if you don't boot into the Server OS

That's if I have your question correct

I'm aware of the changes if I join my secondary pc's to the domain, but I'm uncertain as to whether I'd be able to switch between P2P and a domain. All my work is done from my main computer, which would be hosting the domain, so I would need to log on to xp in order to run my applications.

[stiltman]

After adding a computer to a domain, you will now have the option to logon to the domain or to the local computer. This is just a method of authentication.

If all computer have the same username and passwords, then if you logon to the local computer you'll be doing everything in P2P mode.

If you logon to the domain then all authentication is done by the domain controller

You can have it both ways, I do it all the time
I'll logon to the computer using the local account for troubleshooting, then I'll map drives to a server using a known local account on that server or a domain account

For local accounts, I'll type just the username and password.
If it has problems, I'll type computername\username and the password

For domain accounts, I'll type domainname\username and password