The Netlogon service is not running

Just came across this error: “The system cannot log you on now because the domain domainname is not available.” and found this in the Microsoft site –> Knowledge Base. I also use this to address the “Please wait while the Domain list is updated” message I kept getting when I try to switch the domain in the ‘Log in to’ field in the Sign in screen. I also encounter a “The system could not log you in..the Netlogon service is not running”. They have a Hot fix for this problem, but did not feel it nesesary to install before I tried the following.

• I installed all the latest Windows Updates.
• I logged in locally and enabled the Netlogon service and set it to Automatic.

After the above I re-started and it worked fine.

Machine is:  GX280, XP Pro SP2