Directory Service can not start

[knbink]

Hi all

I am having a problem.
This is an old server, which we dont use anymore.
I just wanted to login and check what it has and to see whether we can use it later on for other things or not.

I didnt had the admin account, so i used a Ultimate Boot CD, in order to change the local SAM Admin password to blank.
Since then, i can not login and can not do anything, it says Directory Service can not start, the newtwork password is not correct.

I want to keep the Exchange and the AD structure, but i am not able to login back in the system in order to make a backup.
I am able thou to start the server, using the Ultimate boot CD, and I am able to copy specific files from or to the server.

Is it possible something to be done, so i can reinstall the server, and restore the AD and the Exchange?

Thanks for the help.

 

[paulhthomas]

Hi knbink, if you're saying this server is a odmian controller then I'm a bit suprised that you managed to change a "local" admin password, a dc's don't have them.
When do you get the error messages? I take it you can't log into this box at all?
Have you got a back up of the server? It is possible that you can boot into Directory Services restore mode and restore a backed up AD, assuming you know the DSRM password.

Paul

Paul Thomas
Important IT

http://www.ImportantIT.com

 

[knbink]

Hi Paul

I didnt change the local admin passowrd, i changed the DSRM password because i didnt know that one as well.

I can not login back in DSRM because its asking to activate windows, and i spoke to Microsoft they provide me with activation ID but it didnt work. We tried twice and nothing.

I tried to repair the installation, but again because the Directory Service can not be started, the repair doesnt work.

Is there a way to recover somehow through Recovery Console? I can go there, but i am not familiar with the commands for recovery console.

I dont have any backups of the server, as i said this is old server, that has been replaced for years. I want to see what data it has and if it works, so if it is ok, to reinstall it, and use it in some other location of the company.

Thanks for the help.

 

[knbink]

So my question is if i can copy some files that i can use as backup of the AD and the Exchange, i will reinstall the whole server, and restore this 2.

I can copy files from the server using the Ultimate boot CD, and i found that i can copy the whole exchange database, but i dont know if that will help when i reinstall the server, to restore the whole exchange from that database.

I could not find anything about the Active Directory, and i think there is no way to copy some database which later i can restore it in the rebuild server.

 

[paulhthomas]

Hi again,
Officially AD is stored in the NTDS.dit file and Exchange is stored in priv.ebd and pub.edb (along with the transaction logs).
For Exchange (i'm assuming 2000/2003) it maybe worth you taking a copy of these and trying to restore them to a second server before you blow this one away.
You'll probably need to run something like eseutil against the exchange databases before you can mount the information store. Once this is done you can replay the transaction logs.
As for AD, you'd need a copy of the system state as well as the ntds.dit as it contains critical registry settings and a copy of sysvol.
I have found the following discussions on the MS site, which shows it isn't possible without the above:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...S/thread/5e37eafd-007e-4e34-a618-d50a77bf45f1

Good luck with the Exchange restore, let me know how you get on

Cheers

Paul

Paul Thomas
Important IT

http://www.ImportantIT.com