renaming win2k domain controller

The only way to rename a domain controller is to demote it. sorry.

You will have to demote it but there is a way around having to resetup everything. If you have another domain controller or a computer you can promote to be a domain controller, besides the one you want to rename, you can transfer roles (Schema, RID, Domain Naming, Global Catalog and Infrastructure) so that the temporary DC has the full copy of Active Directory. Now, you can demote the computer you want to rename, rename it and the re promote it. Once that is done, retransfer the roles and you will not have any issues or have to re setup anything. If you need any help, email me at jwhitlock@starprecision.com I've done this a few times.

Answer 1 is correct.

To answer the second part of your question:

If you demote the DC, you will lose everything related to AD. If your DNS is Active Directory-integrated, you will also lose that. Any other services (DHCP, WINS, etc.) will continue to function properly.

If your DNS is in AD-integrated mode, your best bet would be to convert it to Standard Primary mode before you demote the DC. That way, you will not lose any DNS configuration info, and the DNS server will continue tofunction properly, even without AD present. Then, when you re-promote the server to DC again, all you need to do is change the DNS mode back to AD-integrated.

One caveat to this: When you change the DNS mode to Standard Primary, it will also save records related to your present AD installation (folders named _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, _udp). After you demote the server, delete these folders. Also make sure you update the other DNS records to take into account your server's new name before youreinstall AD.

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