Question : How to configure windows 2003 server with internet access

I need help configuring a server. small network with 4 workstations running win xp pro and the server using peachtree accounting software.  the network is functioning with the server running win 2000 server but without using active directory so the network is a workgroup. it runs slow when network activity is high and the new peachtree requires win server 2003 so I purchased a copy and a new hard drive so I could perform a clean install while maintaining the original config in case of problems like this. computers are connected using a linksys broadband router with internet access thru a speedstream dsl modem.  everything works okay off the old hard drive(running last years peachtree) but when i boot from the new hard drive my problems begin.
I seem to have a dns problem as none of the workstations can join the domain. I have configured the server as a domain controller using active directory. this in turn insists the the server also be a dns server. I have been using microsoft's instructions at the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=323380.  I have entered all the workstations computer names into the server and all the users with passwords. whenever i try to join the domain from a workstation i get the message "domain controller for the domain roadrunner.com could not be contacted". ( the domain name is of course roadrunner.com.)
when I configured the server i gave it a static ip of 192.168.1.254 subnet 255.255.255.0 and gateway of 192.168.1.1(the linksys router). as per microsoft i'm using the server ip address of 192.168.1.254 for the dns address. then i ran the dns configuration wizard and named the dns server roadrunner.com. first question is do i need to change this to something like dns.roadrunner.com?
second question: was i correct in giving the server the dns address of 192.168.1.254? (in network connection properties, right click on tcp/ip)
going forward i attempted to create a forward lookup zone so the network can get out to the internet. when i run the wizard one of the problems is that the microsoft article says to use the suggested dns name but the field is blank.I used roadrunner.com  the article also seems to want me to delete root dns zones created when the server was made a dns server. the article tells me to delete the "." zone. WTF? I show three zones under forward lookup: _msdcs.roadrunner.com, internet.roadunner.com and the one i created roadrunnner.com. should I delete the first two? also when i try to assign an ip address of my internet providers dns server in the roadunnner.com forward lookup zone i am unable to do so.
a last bit of into is that the linksys router is currently acting as the dhcp server but i have tried disablling this feature and upgrading the server to the dhcp server but don't see any difference either way. I think that the dns server is incorrectly setup and that i need to change the name of the forward lookup zone. can someone experienced with win server 2003 please help?

Answer : How to configure windows 2003 server with internet access

The forward lookup zone should match your active directory domain name so if your active directory domain in roadrunner.local then so should your DNS zone.

If your clients are using the linksys router as dhco then they are probably (by default) using the router as a DNS server, check this by running ipconfig /all from a command prompt.
If this is the case then configure your router to issue your servers IP as the DNS server.  This will be why you cannot join the domain.

It's probably easier to tackle one problem at a time but that is a good article for setting ip DNS