DCPROMO, No reboot, can't login under Admin account

[bdoub1eu]

Hi all...This may sound strange, but here goes...

I demoted a DC at a remote site but I chose not to reboot until later that night...I logged off and now I can't get back in...

We use a remote tool called Remote Adminstrator to remotely get into remote machines. I also tried the Remote Desktop connection that comes with XP...

I'm pretty sure it needs a reboot, but I can't get log into the machine to restart it and the site is pretty far away and nobody is onsite...any ideas? Tried the local and domain admin password...Win 2K server.

 

[ElPatNot]

What I used to do is if I couldn't access a computer at all, I would use the shutdown.exe tool from the resource kit. Just tell it to restart after shutdown, and 9/10 times it came right back online just fine.

"Remote Shutdown is a tool which allows you to remotely shut down or reboot a computer running Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4. ShutDown provides system shutdown and restart options from both the command-line and a GUI."

El Patrick of Nottage
Punk by trade, Sys Admin at heart
(Finally lost It)

 

[bdoub1eu]

Oh yeah, I forgot the shutdown.exe...Do you know the command to shutdown and restart?

 

[ElPatNot]

All you should have to do is doubleclick on the application. It'll load up the pretty little GUI, find your server, ensure you select the "Reboot after shutdown" option, and if no one is using it, you can change it to go in 1 second vice 30.

El Patrick of Nottage
Punk at heart, Sys Admin by trade
(Finally lost It)

 

[bdoub1eu]

Sounds good...I'll give it a shot after hours...

 

[bdoub1eu]

Well, I can't get to the server through a UNC path \\servername\c$ and I don't see it in Network Neighborhood...But I can ping it and the app that is running on this server is still working...

Will it accept the shutdown.exe if I can't browse to it? I can ping it, should I use the IP instead of the name?

 

[ElPatNot]

You can try it. I've never in an enviroment where I couldn't see my computer on the network, but mine was a very simple network. It's worth a shot. I'm not sure about the command line mode, so make sure you read the help first.

El Patrick of Nottage
Punk at heart, Sys Admin by trade
(Finally lost It)

 

[JBruyet]

Here's a thought--instead of using \\servername\c$ try using \\serverIPaddress\c$.

Just a thought,

Joe Brouillette

 

[bdoub1eu]

If I try \\servername\c$, I get an error saying:

\\servername\c$
An extended error has occurrred

If I try \\ipaddress\c$, I get the login prompt, but nothing works...Not local or Domain admin account.

 

[mlichstein]

Did you try using the shutdown command yet?