Question

Adding server to domain with existing account

Asked by: kam_uk

Hi Guys

I have a server, Server1.domain.com, that died on me :(

So, we have built a new server with the same name which is currently in a Workgroup....we need to add this server to the domain again before the restore process, but the AD computer account is still there obviously.

What is the recommended method -

i) deleting the AD computer account and then adding the machine to the domain
ii) resetting the AD computer account and then adding the machine to the domain
iii) don't do anything with the AD computer account and just add the machine to the domain

Any help much appreciated on this.

The server is Windows 2003 as is our domain functional level.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-09-21 at 13:28:44ID24749727
Topics

Windows 2003 Server

,

Active Directory

Participating Experts
6
Points
250
Comments
12

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. workgroup/domain restoral
    More....workgroup/domain login probs. Like others I made the error of changing the domain to workgroup, and now I can't change workgroup back to domain. I was logged in as a domain user on my laptop before I changed it to the workgroup so I could transfer some large files to ...
  2. IIS and AppPool Replication in a Workgroup
    Greetings Experts. We are currently load balancing two web servers using F5's Big IP. Everything is working fine however we frequently update and add new virtual directories and it's a major pain to copy the data and settings from one web server to the other (double the wor...
  3. Workgroup within a Domain
    This is a learning question for me... I have a registered domain...DSL > No-IP.com dns forwarder > Linksys BEFW11S4 router > 16 port switch > W2003SBS domain controller & AD > 4 - XP Pro workstations and 1 Linux...Router is DHCP, network is 192.168.1.x, se...
  4. BDC that died
    I have a 2003 server BDC that died.(PC2) I replaced the drive and reloaded the OS. i want to join the domain again with the same computer name. My PDC is a 2000 Server(PC1). and i have one more 2003 Server BDC(PC3). I was not able to demote (PC2). Thanks for any help.
  5. Workgroup to Domain Profiles and settings
    Hello experts, I have just changed my Windows 2003 File server to a domain. Before all pc's were in a workgroup. "And they were all administrators!" I want to change them do a domain. I have successfully linked one pc up to the domain. I copied the local pro...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: VanikczPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:30:59ID: 25387275

in my experience is 1 and 3 posiible... if you are doing the 3, you must use the delegated account to adding computer to domain, or in the best way some domain admin account

 

by: kam_ukPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:32:04ID: 25387284

Why not #2 out of interest?

 

by: mkline71Posted on 2009-09-21 at 13:32:11ID: 25387286

You can delete the old account and add the new server.

Follow up...is Server1 a domain controller or just a member server.  More involved if it is a domain controller.

Thanks

Mike

 

by: Wonko_the_SanePosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:34:23ID: 25387309

Actually number 2 is the best option if you want to keep that account.

 

by: VanikczPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:34:39ID: 25387311

resetting computer account is good when you have domain connected computer, but it cant reach the domain... AFAIK

 

by: Wonko_the_SanePosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:35:52ID: 25387319

And some explanation: When you do that any permissions or group membership of that computer will be preserved.

 

by: Mike_CourtneyPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:38:00ID: 25387343

1 and 2 are valid - least work is option 2.
Right click the computer in AD and choose reset acount - this resets the password to the default one
This will preserve the computers AD attributes etc
Option 1 will delete all AD info on that computer - not good if you have services that tie into AD

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:38:36ID: 25387350

Need a bit more info to give an accurate answer.

Was the server a DC? If so you will need to do a METADATA cleanup: http://www.petri.co.il/delete_failed_dcs_from_ad.htm. You may also need to seize the FSMO roles.

If it was a member server then simply resetting the computer account in Active Directory Users and Computers should be sufficient.

 

by: demazterPosted on 2009-09-21 at 13:41:33ID: 25387377

Seizing FSMO roles guide:http://www.petri.co.il/seizing_fsmo_roles.htm

sorry forgot it in my previous post.

Deleting the account will also work but option 3 is a no go.  If the account already exists you will not be able to join a computer/server to the domain until it has been deleted or reset.

 

by: joeroketPosted on 2009-09-21 at 15:59:18ID: 25388451

The easiest solution is option 1. Option 2 would require manually entering the GUID into AD and Option 3 could potentially leave unwanted info in AD.

 

by: kam_ukPosted on 2009-09-27 at 11:14:37ID: 25434835

Sorry guys for the lack of info - this is just a normal member server, *not* a DC...

 

by: Wonko_the_SanePosted on 2009-09-27 at 11:29:16ID: 25434897

... which we had to assume since you never said this was a DC. Try option ii) if you haven't, that is the best solution for reasons stated above by others and me. If that doesn't work use i)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...