Fix for Inability to Select Domain Users in Windows Select Users Dialog

This week, I set up a number of virtual servers using Windows 2003 and Windows XP. I noticed that I was not not able to select domain users or groups using the Windows Select Users dialog on any of the machines in the domain, except for the domain controller itself.

Symptoms

When attempting to specify a domain user or group in the Select Users dialog (for example, when modifying sharing or security settings on a folder), a Name Not Found dialog is displayed, with the following message:

The following object is not from a domain listed in the Select Location dialog box, and is therefore not valid:

Here are some screenshots showing an example of this problem:



When you click on the Locations... button, the only location displayed is the local machine.


Cause

The system's DNS settings do not include the DNS that stores information for the domain.

Solution

Modify the TCP/IP DNS settings for your network connection so that the DNS server for your windows domain is the primary DNS. For example, change this:


To this:



After making this change, you should be able to successfully use domain users and groups in the Select Users dialog. You may need to close out of the applications/utilities/windows that you were using to select users.