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sysvol and netlogon missing but i still have old domain controller

AdvNetSol
AdvNetSol asked
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My scenario is this, I started with a network of two 2008 servers acting as domain controllers.  I added a 2012r2 server and then transferred the FSMO roles to it and set it as a global catalog server and then removed the two 2008 servers from being global catalog servers.  I then demoted the first of the two servers.  At this point I noticed the 2012r2 server did not have the sysvol and netlogon directory so I pointed DNS to it and had it assume FSMO roles.  Active directory is working on my network again, but I still have the 2012r2 server that is not working properly.  I have found articles about an authoritive and non-authoritive restore but I don't want to force this server into production if it isn't necessary.  I would rather do it via normal processes.

My question is this, can I simply demote it and promote it again and see if it will work properly on a second attempt?

can anyone explain the risks of using an authoritive or non-authoritive restore?
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Principal Consultant
Most Valuable Expert 2016
Top Expert 2014
Commented:
If you have a solid working Server 2008 DC and the 2012 is just not working right, yes, you can demote it and remove it from the domain and then re-do -- but if you do that I would fully reinstall as well to get new SIDs.

But... this has happened to me a couple of times and it's not too difficult to just do a non-authoritative synchronization to get it working correctly.   Instructions for that are here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2218556
Jeffrey Kane - TechSoEasyPrincipal Consultant
Most Valuable Expert 2016
Top Expert 2014

Commented:
By the way... don't think of non-authoritative as being worse... it's actually the default directory services restore mode.  What it means is that data doesn't get overwritten -- whereas an Authoritative restore/sync will overwrite data even if that data is newer than what is being copied.
AdvNetSol

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Commented:
I did end up demoting and repromoting the server but that didn't fix the problem.  the ultimate solution was to perform an authoritive restore and manually sharing the sysvol folder (it didn't work until the sysvol was manually shared at which point netlogon automatically shared...within seconds)  Very strange resolution but everything has been perfect on the domain since.