An active directory domain could not be contacted

I have this problem with joining client PCs to the domain. I think i did everything right, set up AD DS, DHCP, DNS on my server, turned off the DHCP server on my router. I ensured that the Preferred DNS server on the client computer is the IP of my Server and then I tried to join the domain but got an error saying

The Active Directory Domain controller could not be contacted

I googled around and noticed most of the solutions suggested to give the client computer a static IP, set the default gateway to the router's IP address and set the preferred DNS to the server's IP address. Followed the exact step and I was able to join the domain. The problem is I have up to 100 PCs I want to join to the domain and its going to be a total pain to start remembering where I stopped with the last manual IP assignment and also prevent clashes. I noticed that if i didn't do the static IP configuration on the client side, running IP config revealed some IP address that looked like public IPs which is different from what my ISP assigned to us.

In summary, is the server DHCP configuration not supposed to be the one handling out IPs? If yes, then why do i still need to give client PCs static IPs to be able to join the domain? Why can't I join the domain without configuring static IP on the client side?. Any help is much appreciated. PS: I use windows server 2012 Standard IP Settings from DC IpConfig /all result for DC

C:\Users\Administrator>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : zedcrestcapital
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : zedcrest.com
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : zedcrest.com

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Hyper-V Network Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-5D-01-15-02
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6db9:db40:551f:87d3%12(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : ::1
                                       192.168.1.3
                                       192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{E7C36792-32F9-4B58-B251-DEC330C868E4}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

DHCP Scope Setting for DC DNS Settings for DC

Error on Client Side while joining Domain

Note: This information is intended for a network administrator.  If you are not your network's administrator, notify the administrator that you received this information, which has been recorded in the file C:\WINDOWS\debug\dcdiag.txt.

The following error occurred when DNS was queried for the service location (SRV) resource record used to locate an Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) for domain "zedcrest.com":

The error was: "This operation returned because the timeout period expired."
(error code 0x000005B4 ERROR_TIMEOUT)

The query was for the SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.zedcrest.com

The DNS servers used by this computer for name resolution are not responding. This computer is configured to use DNS servers with the following IP addresses:

192.168.1.3

Verify that this computer is connected to the network, that these are the correct DNS server IP addresses, and that at least one of the DNS servers is running.

IP settings of Client

ipconfig /all result for client

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ZEDVANCE-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : F8-A9-63-88-76-A6
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Ralink RT3290 802.11bgn Wi-Fi Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 90-48-9A-0C-12-65
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #3
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 48-EE-0C-26-2B-E4
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi 3:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : D-Link DWA-121 Wireless N USB Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 48-EE-0C-26-2B-E4
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1926:c27f:5f08:8bd6%21(Preferred)
   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.139.214(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 323546636
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1D-81-30-3C-F8-A9-63-88-76-A6
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 90-48-9A-0C-12-66
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{D178DE62-2A03-433F-914A-0750C974FB9E}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

OK, the problem is that the client has an APIPA address (169.254.139.214), which means that it isn't getting an ip address from DHCP. I can see in your screenshots that the DHCP server has a red arrow, which means it hasn't been authorized, which means it won't assign ip addressing information to clients. You need to authorize the DHCP server and then things should work.

Also, you shouldn't manually assign the DNS server on the client. Assign the DNS server via DHCP in your DHCP Scope options.

One more thing, you have 192.168.1.1 assigned as a DNS server on your DC, which is presumably your router. Don't do that. In an AD domain, all machines should only use the AD DNS server(s) for DNS. Remove that from the DC and add 127.0.0.1 instead (assuming this is the only DC/DNS server).

Have a read here for the DHCP server icon reference:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg722802(v=ws.10).aspx