How To Create Domain Account In Windows 10

How To Join A Windows 10 Pc To A Domain

Domains provide single user log on from any networked computer within the network perimeter. Heres how to join a Windows 10 client to a domain.

A Domain-based network provides centralized administration of an entire network from a single computer called a server. Domains provide single user log on from any networked computer within the network perimeter. Users can access resources for which they have appropriate permission. While I do not want to go into the complexities of Domain networks, you can find out more by contacting your Network Administrator if you have difficulties connecting to your workplace domain.

To join a Domain, you must first ensure you have the following information and resources:

• a User Account on the Domain, this information you can get from your Network Administrator.
• Name of Domain.
• A computer running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise/Education editions
• Domain Controller must be running Windows Server 2003 .
• I discovered during testing that Windows 10 does not support Windows 2000 Server Domain Controllers.

Is It Possible To Create A Windows 10 User Profile For A Remote User Without Using Their Credentials

We have remote employees where their laptop has died and they need a replacement. In order to prepare a laptop to ship to them, we currently ask them for their username and password so that we can login to the laptop and create the Windows user profile for them while the laptop is on-site and can connect to the domain.

Preferred solution: I’d like to be able to ship them a freshly imaged laptop as-is, without any configuration unique to that user, so that we can respond to these requests more quickly. Ideally the user could just remove the laptop from the box, enter their username and password and off they go. Is this possible, and if so, how?

The research I’ve done so far indicates this may be possible by using Windows 10 VPN at the login screen to connect to the domain first, then do the user login using their credentials. We currently use a Fortinet VPN, so not sure if this would be possible.

This may not be the best answer and there is likely a better way but we use the following trick quite often in similar situations:

1 – Get the user to login to the laptop with a local generic user account

2 – Connect the computer to the VPN so it can communicate to the Domain Controller

3 – Holding the shift key right click on an application like IE or Command Prompt, etc. And select “Run As User”

4 – Input his actual Domain credentials, this will create the profile and cache his password hash in the computer

5 – Disconnect the VPN, Logoff and login as himself.

Add New User Account From Command Line

Some times we may want to add new users from command line instead of using the UI. For example, if we have to add some 100 users, using a script will save lot of time and manual effort. Windows provides net user command for this purpose. This command works on Windows 2000, Windows XP/2003, Vista and Windows 7.

To add a new user account on the local computer:

net user username password /ADD

Example: To add a new user account with the loginid John and with password fadf24as

net user John fadf24as /ADD

Hide password

If you do not want the password to be visible while adding new user account, you can use * as shown below.

C:\> net user /add John *Type a password for the user: Retype the password to confirm:The command completed successfully.C:\> 

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Simple Methods To Join Windows 11 Computer To Domain

If you got Windows 11 machines running in your setup, you can join Windows 11 computer to domain. You can perform the Windows 11 domain join process using multiple methods.

When you set up an Active Directory Domain Controller server in your network, you can then join one or more Windows 11 machines to the Active Directory domain.

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

If you are new to the concept of Active Directory, I recommend reading Overview of Active Directory Domain Services.

Using AD Domain Controller, you can centrally manage domain-joined Windows 11 PCs. You can create, configure and apply group policies to push various user and computer settings to a domain-joined Windows 11 computers.

In addition, you can also create and manage user accounts accessing the domain-joined Windows 11 computers and other resources of the Active Directory domain.

The steps used for Windows 11 domain join process is slightly different from the one that we used with Windows 10. However, it is not difficult and if you are a Windows admin, it shouldnt make much difference.

You can join a Windows 11 computer to a domain using multiple methods.

Join Windows 10 Pc To A Domain

How to Join a Windows 10 PC to a Local Active Directory DomainHow to Join a Windows 10 PC to a Local Active Directory DomainDomainTo join a Domain, you will be required to have the following information:

• Domain name you want to join.
• The name and password of your user account on the Domain set up by the domain administrator.

To join a Domain, you must meet the following requirements:

• Domain Controller must be running Windows Server 2003 or later.
• Only a Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition PC can join a domain.

Windows 10local Active Directory Domain

The Family feature will no longer be available in Windows 10 after you join a domain.

You must be signed in to an administrator account on your Windows 10 PC to join a domain.

• Option One: To Join PC to a Domain from Settings
• Option Two: To Join PC to a Domain from System Properties
• Option Three: To Join PC to a Domain from PowerShell

EXAMPLE: Sign in to Domain on Windows 10 PC

When you join a domain, your might be required to change your password on first .

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What Are The Steps

1) Log into the Domain Controller with an account that has administrator rights.

2) Open the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in.

3) Create a new user called “qualys_scanner” . Please do not use “qualys” for your user account name as this account is reserved for use by Qualys and may get locked out during scanning.

4) Select the “qualys_scanner” user and go to Properties .

5) In the Properties window, go to the “Member Of” tab. Click Add to add the “qualys_scanner” user to the “Domain Admins” group. Click OK to save the change.

Restrict And Protect Sensitive Domain Accounts

Restricting and protecting domain accounts in your domain environment requires you to adopt and implement the following best practices approach:

• Strictly limit membership to the Administrators, Domain Admins, and Enterprise Admins groups.

• Stringently control where and how domain accounts are used.

Member accounts in the Administrators, Domain Admins, and Enterprise Admins groups in a domain or forest are high-value targets for malicious users. It is a best practice to strictly limit membership to these administrator groups to the smallest number of accounts in order to limit any exposure. Restricting membership in these groups reduces the possibility that an administrator might unintentionally misuse these credentials and create a vulnerability that malicious users can exploit.

Moreover, it is a best practice to stringently control where and how sensitive domain accounts are used. Restrict the use of Domain Admins accounts and other administrator accounts to prevent them from being used to sign in to management systems and workstations that are secured at the same level as the managed systems. When administrator accounts are not restricted in this manner, each workstation from which a domain administrator signs in provides another location that malicious users can exploit.

Implementing these best practices is separated into the following tasks:

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Join Windows 10 To Domain From Windows 10 Settings

You can also join Windows 10 to domain from Windows 10 Settings. This is the new Windows 10 way

Here are the steps:

• Right-click start menu. Then click Settings.

• When Windows Settings, scroll down to and click Accounts.

• At your account info details, click Access work or school.

• Then click Connect and wait for the details to load

• When Set up work or school account screen loads, beneath Alternative actions click Join this device to a local Active Directory Domain.

• Then enter the domain name and click Next. The computer will take a while to process the request.

• It will then request for the credentials with permission to join the device to the domain. It the username and password in the format shown. You could also use the DomainName\UserName format. Then type the password and click OK.

• You will then be prompted to enter the name of the person that will be using this computer. Click Skip.

• Finally, click Restart now.

• When your PC is restarted it will be a member of the AD domain.

Logging Into Local Accounts On Windows

After the computer is joined to the Active Directory domain, you can sign in under the domain or local user account. On the login screen in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, there is a drop-down list Log on to. Here you can choose whether you want to log in under the domain account or using a local user .

However, in newer versions of Windows, this drop-down menu no longer exists. Instead of this, a user is facing with a small button How to log on to another domain which appears near on the domain-joined computers Welcome Screen. If you click this button, the following tip will appear:

Type domain namedomain user name to sign in to another domain.Type NY-FS01\local user name to sign in to this PC only

As you can see, the message contains the name of your computer/server . If you want to login with a local account , type in NY-FS01\Administrator in the User name field and type the password. Of course, if your computer name is quite long, the input can be a real challenge!

Fortunately, there is a simple trick that allows you to log in under a local account.

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Removing A Work Or School Account

To remove an account, head to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, click the account, and select Disconnect.

If that doesnt work, we found another workaround that worked for us:

Head to Settings > Accounts > Your info, select Sign in with a local account instead, and follow the process to sign in to your PC with a local account instead of a Microsoft account. After logging back into your PC, head to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, click the account, and try to remove it again. Once the work or school account is removed, you can head to Setttings > Accounts > Your Info and sign back in with a Microsoft account.

To join a traditional Windows domain instead, if your organization provides one, select Join or leave an organization under Related Settings at the bottom of the Work Access pane. Youll be taken to the Settings > System > About pane where you can join your device to a either a domain your organization hosts or a Microsoft Azure AD domain.

To Join A Computer To A Domain

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To Create A User In The Windows Domain Controller

Which Account Type Should You Choose

Domain and workgroup accounts are different accounts, but they both have their own distinct uses. Domain accounts should be set up when an organization is larger than 20 computers , with resources large enough to have at least one domain controller server .

This account type is best suited to organizations where users have different privilege levels and where there is a need for at least some control of network resources. If your organization is an enterprise, school or other large organization, this is the account for you.

Workgroup accounts are best suited to home computers, small networks where all users have the same privileges, and for networks that do not have a domain controller server. The easiest part about the workgroup account is that you do not have to join it you are part of the workgroup club right out of the box.

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Prerequisites For Windows 11 Domain Join

If you are planning to add or join Windows 11 computer to AD domain, here are the basic requirements.

How To Setup A Domain Controller

One of the first things you need to do when using Active Directory is to set up a domain controller. A domain controller is a central computer that will respond to authentication requests and authenticate other computers throughout the network. The domain controller stores the login credentials of all other computers and printers.

All other computers connect to the domain controller so that the user can authenticate every device from one location. The advantage of this is that the administrator wont have to manage dozens of login credentials.

The process of setting up a domain controller is relatively simple. Assign a static IP address to your Domain Controller and install Active Directory Domain Services or ADDS. Now follow these instructions:

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