I'm experiencing a strange problem when logging into my Domain Controller. It's a single DC setup and every time I input my password, the first attempt fails, saying it's incorrect, but the second attempt always works fine. I'm running Windows Server 2019 Standard, and there aren't any other complications I can identify. Has anyone else faced something like this or have any ideas on what might be causing it?
5 Answers
Are you using a Bluetooth keyboard for the login? Sometimes, if the keyboard isn't fully awake, the first keystroke doesn't get sent properly. If you’re copying and pasting your password in a remote session, that might also result in weird behavior. Just a thought!
Sounds like a quirky issue! One thing to check is if the password is being entered correctly. Sometimes, the first character doesn't register, especially if you're using a remote session. You might want to try clearing the field and entering the password again. Just to be sure it’s right.
Have you checked the security logs on the DC? Look for any audit failure events that might give you more context on why the first attempt fails. It could provide clues about what's going wrong during login.
I wonder what the server's uptime is like. Is there any clock drift? Sometimes time synchronization issues can cause login problems. Oh, and have you considered changing the password just to test it out? That might shed some light on the issue.
This might relate to DNS settings. In small setups, I often see clients configured with the DC as their primary DNS and an ISP DNS as secondary. Ideally, clients should only use the DC as the DNS server to avoid misconfigurations that could affect logins.
Yeah, it did have Google DNS as secondary a long time ago, but I thought I’d cleared that up.
Nope, it’s through Screenconnect, so I’m just copy/pasting the password.