G+_Jason Perry Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I am looking for some networking/computer setup help. I think this issue is from a lack of experience. To simplify the setup of a six computer lab I set up one computer and cloned the hard drive with Acronis. The lab has its own unmanaged switch which connects it to the network. Now that I have everything up and running none of the computers can connect to the Internet and when I rebooted the computer it can't connect to a DHCP server. If I do an ipconfig on any of the computers in the building it comes back with a 192 address with a 255.255.0.0 net mask and no gateway. If I unplug the switch and connect one of the computers to the network the problem resolves. Any suggestions to help resolve this issue? http://255.255.0.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_James Scouten Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I am assuming all these machines are identical so the first thing I wold do is remove the network adapter from the device manager and let windows refind it the second thing if that doesn't work is make sure the cables/switch works by using a laptop or known good computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I would check the cable between the switch and the router (or DHCP server if you're not using the one on the router). If that's showing connection, set a static IP on one if the machines and see if it's able to get out then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 You didn't say you had a DHCP server on the lab LAN. A switch won't do it. If you are getting a 192.169.254.X (or something close,) that's a self assigned IP. If its a lab, it 'shouldn't' be connected to your production LAN and thus doesn't get network config from the router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Keith Mallett Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 169.254.x.x is an APIPA Address. It is window's way of assigning automatic IPs to a computer in a group when it CAN'T find the DHCP server. The problem is the DHCP server is not accessible. There are a few ways to fix this and get it working right away. Since you have only six workstations you can try either until you figure out what the problem is. 1). DHCP fix - find out what is going on with the DHCP server. I'm assuming your using a consumer router. Make sure that is on line and can communicate with the internet via the WAN port. Make sure the LAN is connected to one of the LAN ports. The DHCP service might be configured but turned off. 2.) Statis IPs - Assign all of the workstations static IPs. You need to include all of the settings. Here is an example IP - 192.168.1.10 Mask - 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway - 192.168.1.1 (Make sure you use the LAN address of the router) DNA - 192.168.1.1 If you want to use the router settings which will look to your ISP. Another choice and a good check is to use Google's DNA server at 8.8.8.8. You don't need to set the second DNA address,it is only used when the first one is unreachable. If you can't get to the first one there is a problem. Once you set the workstation with static IP. Open a command prompt shell and ping each other. If you can't ping you might need to turn off the firewall. Once the computers can talk to each other try reaching the router at the default gateway address. BTW - You can set your internal IPs to be anything that is not routable and be private. However, all of the subnet masks must be the same on each device. It is also OK to use classfull private address with classless masks. The subnet mask only tells the computer how much of the address is the network id and how much is the host address. So you can use any of the following as all of them only allow 254 devices on your network: 10.0.0.x / 255.255.255.0 172.16.0.x / 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.x / 255.255.255.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Scott W Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I found that after cloning several computers I needed to change the computer names so they were all different. That solved the same issue for me you are having. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Ummm.... I am pretty sure I found the problem. The computer names were all the same. I am pretty sure that's what was causing the issue in the DHCP server. I pulled all the computers off the network, set static addresses, changed the name, restarted, and plugged them back in. So far it seems to be working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Branden Snyder Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Take a look at the "sysprep" utility from Microsoft. Networking is just one of many issues when you clone windows, another doozy is the SID's are still the same. Anyway, sysprep fixes these issues by telling the OS to go through the out-of-box-setup during its next boot cycle. Cloning is exactly what sysprep was designed for. Check it out :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Branden Snyder??, I am doing some reading on sysprep. It looks like it is supposed to be run before the clone. I think i have my issue resolved, if not is there a benefit to running it after the clone? PS what is a Security ID? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Branden Snyder Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'm only guessing because I don't know much about the internal workings, but running sysprep after cloning is just as good. It will still perform the same tasks and hopefully fix all the issues you are having. P.S. next time you clone I recommend keeping the network disconnected until after the completion of the out-of-box-experience. I've always done it so I don't know if it's actually important or not lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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