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Creating a temporary domain

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by pgroves

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When migrating from NT 4 server to 2000 server our former systems admin failed to demote the NT PDC before killing it resulting in a currently corrupt forest. I have searched for a final backup from the NT server to recreate the domain and demote the PDC but none exists, I am unable to promote a BDC because my system is still looking for for the former NT PDC. Will creating a temporary domain solve this and how would I create this domain and join my exchange server to it while I take what should be my PDC down and rebuild it. Also I have done very little research as of now into .Net Server does anyone know if upgrading to .Net server will allow me to fix this problem without rebuilding my domain.

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by timwalsh

When you say your "former systems admin failed to demote the NT PDC before killing it", do you mean he installed Win2k on a computer other than the NT4 PDC?

If so, how did he "kill" the PDC?

The following rules apply to migrating a domain fromNT4 to Win2K and Active Directory (AD):
1. A Win2K Domain Controller (DC) CANNOT exist in an NT4 domain.
2. An NT4 PDC CANNOT exist in a Win2K domain (but NT4 BDCs can).
3. For a successful migration to occur, Win2K (and AD) MUST be installed on the NT4 PDC (will not work on a BDC).

If these rules were violated an any way, that would explain the domain corruption. Unless you have a BDC that was disconnected from the network prior to the start of the migration attempt, you are probablypast the point of recovery (unless you can successfully promote one of your BDCs to PDC).

Try disconnecting your BDC from the network before attempting to promote it.

If this doesn't work, and a recent PDC backup doesn't materialize, I'm sad to say that all is probably lost. Creating a temporary domain will do nothing to help you out of your predicament.

At this point, your best bet is to take the computer you wish to become your the master Win2K DC, install Win2K, and recreate your domain from scratch. At this point, any NT4 BDCs, will become useless.

Hope this helps.

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