I am assuming the domain it was trying to contact was an office based LAN
The simplest way I get around this is set up 2 user accounts one used and given permissions to connect to the domain and a second that is given permissions to the local machine only.
The user then selects the account they want to use. Depending if their in the office (connecting to the LAN) or out and just want to use the laptop.
If the local account is chosen, when you login then the pc allocates just the Windows default IP address and does not look for a domain.
scottbelton@tiscali.co.uk