How do I join a Windows 8 PC into a domain?

Question

How can I enroll a Windows 8 PC into an existing domain?

Answer 1

1. From the Start page, select Control Panel.
2. In the left sidebar, scroll all the way to the bottom and select More settings. Now you see the Control Panel much like it was in Windows 7.
3. Select System and Security, then System.
4. In the Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings section, select Change settings.
5. Do what you would have done in Windows 7.

Note: You must have Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise

Answer 2

If you are not afraid of the command line, PowerShell offers an easy way to script / automate this through the JoinDomainOrWorkgroup WMI method:

# Acquire credentials for a domain account that has permission to join
$admin = Get-Credential

# these two variables are for convenience in shortening the command line
$user = $admin.UserName
$pw = $admin.GetNetworkCredential().Password

$CS = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem
$CS.JoinDomainOrWorkgroup("DOMAIN",$pw,$user,$null,3)

Important Note: you will need Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise to join a domain. The regular version of Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT are not able to join domains. You can see your version with the following PowerShell command:

(Get-WmiObject -class Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption

References:

• Win32_ComputerSystem: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa394102.aspx
• Win32_OperatingSystem: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa394239.aspx
• JoinDomainOrWorkgroup: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa392154.aspx

Answer 3

You can attempt to use X-Setup to join a 'non'-Pro Windows client to a domain. The software is out of date, but it was used for Windows XP Home Edition to do what you are asking.

I have not attempted it with Windows 8.