When working in a Windows XP environment (yes, some corporate networks still maintain legacy systems), checking your Active Directory group membership requires different approaches than modern Windows versions. Here are three technical methods to accomplish this:

The simplest way is through the command prompt:

whoami /groups

For more detailed output including SIDs:

dsquery user -name %username% | dsget user -memberof -expand

For environments where PowerShell isn't available, here's a VBScript alternative:

Set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & CreateObject("ADSystemInfo").UserName)
For Each strGroup in objUser.MemberOf
    WScript.Echo strGroup
Next

This WMI query works well for Windows XP:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
    & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colGroups = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Associators of {Win32_UserAccount.Domain='" & strComputer & "',Name='" & CreateObject("WScript.Network").UserName & "'} " _
        & "Where AssocClass=Win32_GroupUser ResultClass=Win32_Group")
        
For Each objGroup in colGroups
    WScript.Echo objGroup.Name
Next

If you encounter "Access Denied" errors:

• Ensure your account has at least "Read" permissions on your user object
• Verify network connectivity to domain controllers
• Check if the Active Directory Web Services (ADWS) is running (for some query methods)

To handle nested group memberships recursively:

Function GetNestedGroups(strUserDN)
    Set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & strUserDN)
    arrGroups = objUser.GetEx("memberOf")
    
    For Each strGroupDN in arrGroups
        WScript.Echo Split(strGroupDN, ",")(0).Replace("CN=", "")
        GetNestedGroups strGroupDN
    Next
End Function

GetNestedGroups CreateObject("ADSystemInfo").UserName

When working in a corporate Windows environment, you often need to verify your Active Directory group memberships for security audits or troubleshooting permission issues. On modern Windows systems, you'd typically use PowerShell, but Windows XP presents unique challenges since it lacks native PowerShell support.

The most straightforward method is using the whoami command with the /groups switch:

whoami /groups

This will display all security groups your account belongs to, including SIDs and attributes. For a more detailed output including nested groups:

gpresult /r

For automation or integration with other scripts, VBScript works well on Windows XP:

Set objSysInfo = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo")
Set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & objSysInfo.UserName)

WScript.Echo "User: " & objUser.CN
WScript.Echo "Member of:"

For Each strGroup in objUser.MemberOf
    Set objGroup = GetObject("LDAP://" & strGroup)
    WScript.Echo " - " & objGroup.CN
Next

Windows Management Instrumentation provides another alternative:

wmic useraccount where name='%username%' get name,sid
wmic group where "partofdomain='YOURDOMAIN'" get name

For developers needing to integrate this check into applications, here's a C++ snippet using ADSI:

#include <windows.h>
#include <activeds.h>

void CheckADGroups() {
    CoInitialize(NULL);
    IADsADSystemInfo *pADsysInfo;
    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_ADSystemInfo, NULL, 
        CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_IADsADSystemInfo, (void**)&pADsysInfo);
    
    if (SUCCEEDEDhr)) {
        BSTR bstrUserPath;
        pADsysInfo->get_UserName(&bstrUserPath);
        
        IADsUser *pUser;
        hr = ADsGetObject(bstrUserPath, IID_IADsUser, (void**)&pUser);
        
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr)) {
            VARIANT varGroups;
            VariantInit(&varGroups);
            pUser->get_MemberOf(&varGroups);
            
            // Process group information here
        }
    }
    CoUninitialize();
}

Remember that some methods might not show nested group memberships. For comprehensive results, consider:

• Running queries with domain admin privileges
• Checking both direct and indirect memberships
• Validating results against domain controllers

If you encounter issues:

nltest /user:%username%

This can help verify your secure channel with the domain controller. Also ensure your machine has proper network connectivity to domain controllers.