Member_2_908359
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dcpromo
After using dcpromo to downgrade from active directory server to stand alone, all accounts seems to be deleted, including the admin one; therefore I cannot login aymore. Probably a bug? There are a lot of problems mentionned on microsoft support site for non-domestic versions when uding dcpromo. Has anyone had the same trouble? If yes, tell me which version (UK, German, french, italian, spanish, etc...) and sp#. That was a problem in sp1, but is supposed to be corrected with sp2+...
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SOLUTION
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During the dcpromo process you were prompted to give the local administrator a password. That is currently the only account present on this machine and thus the only one you can logon with. All the others are gone.
Above is based on this having been the only DC in the domain.
Above is based on this having been the only DC in the domain.
ASKER
thanks to you all. You are all correct except:
- the passwd used to demote does not work anymore.
- this server was active directory server also (the 1st non NT4 server here), so the AD accounts are effectively deleted, but I would have expected the admin one to remain untouched
- I do remember the local admin passwd, but is does not bloody work anymore!
You all witness the way it should work, and I believe it does most of the time...
The original idea to demote this server was to try to overcome a problem which was preventing from recuperating accounts from my NT4 domain using the migration tool which also reported my passwd to be wrong in the old domain though I could login as domain admin on both machines...
I am definitly convinced this is a buggy area as my machine has gone back to US keyboard also... may not be related... I'll let you know the final word anyway, but I may have to re-install...
- the passwd used to demote does not work anymore.
- this server was active directory server also (the 1st non NT4 server here), so the AD accounts are effectively deleted, but I would have expected the admin one to remain untouched
- I do remember the local admin passwd, but is does not bloody work anymore!
You all witness the way it should work, and I believe it does most of the time...
The original idea to demote this server was to try to overcome a problem which was preventing from recuperating accounts from my NT4 domain using the migration tool which also reported my passwd to be wrong in the old domain though I could login as domain admin on both machines...
I am definitly convinced this is a buggy area as my machine has gone back to US keyboard also... may not be related... I'll let you know the final word anyway, but I may have to re-install...
at the logon prompt, type your admin password at the username box. see if it's correct.
ASKER
If yr idea is that I would be trapped by the keyboard layout, too late, I laso did a cut/paste from username box to passwd to "see" the entered passwd...
This question is still open and getting old. If any of the comment(s) above helped you please accept it as an answer or split the points who ever helped you in this question. Your attention in finalising this question is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance,
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Pasha
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ASKER
I am OK to split points though nobody found the fix, but... there were no fix, it was definitly a bug.
I reinstalled that machine as stand alone machine, and postponed the active directory upgrade to my next server installation.
By that time, MS may have fixed it!
Sorry I forgot I had this question open, this happens when there is no more answer coming. I'll check if I have others, I swear it!
I reinstalled that machine as stand alone machine, and postponed the active directory upgrade to my next server installation.
By that time, MS may have fixed it!
Sorry I forgot I had this question open, this happens when there is no more answer coming. I'll check if I have others, I swear it!
I would like to point out one thing that I did not see mentioned. If the Adminstartor account (the default account setup for administrative access) had been renamed while the server was an AD conroller (ie. Administartor had been renamed to JoeBlow), the when you do a dcpromo downgrade to a member server the account is now named Administrator again. You can not logon as JoeBlow.
I don't know if that would be the issue here, but I did not see it mentioned.
I don't know if that would be the issue here, but I did not see it mentioned.
You could use a NT password Bootdisk to hack the password. The utility, will allow you to boot the 2000 Server and change the adminstrative password. It will allow you to see the Admin account name if you changed it and change the password. It will also allow you to set a blank password.
It can be downloaded for free from the following website. http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/editor.html
It can be downloaded for free from the following website. http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/editor.html
ASKER
thanks for this late answer, that stuff is 2 years old. Since then, that server has been re-installed, I have left the company, etc...
Actually, I had not lost the passwd, the account had been disabled or erased, and it was not renamed for sure. I discovered later on (when hiring a MCSE guy, freshly trained) that what we were trying to do was not supported by the w2k installation at that time, but he learned this from the w2k3 AD migration notes! (and that was, installing AD on a w2k server with domain accounts recuperation from a 2nd NT4 server. On top, that server used to be a stand alone NT4 server upgraded to domain controller with DCpromote (excellent utility otherwise, but renames groups with english names on non english OSs, which may have disturbed AD migrations tools)
Actually, I had not lost the passwd, the account had been disabled or erased, and it was not renamed for sure. I discovered later on (when hiring a MCSE guy, freshly trained) that what we were trying to do was not supported by the w2k installation at that time, but he learned this from the w2k3 AD migration notes! (and that was, installing AD on a w2k server with domain accounts recuperation from a 2nd NT4 server. On top, that server used to be a stand alone NT4 server upgraded to domain controller with DCpromote (excellent utility otherwise, but renames groups with english names on non english OSs, which may have disturbed AD migrations tools)
If no then you have gotten rid of your domain and now have a server in a workgroup, which the user database is stored on the local pc of your workstations.