Domain Rename

[Unsalted]

Our company has new owners after 4 years, and I need to change the companies domain name on the server,

is this possible please?

its windows 2000 server, with about 30 clients.

 

[Unsalted]

Ive noticed on network Identification tab, the button to rename it is greyed out,

and the message "you cannot join or rename this domain as this computer is the domain controller"

is there a way around this without reinstalling?

thanks

 

[AJ1982]

2003 has Domain Rename, upgrade or re-install is your options...

===

AJ - (Formerly FatmanSuperstar)

 

[Unsalted]

can I upgrade too 2003 without losing data? is it a simple process?

thanks

 

[pagy]

Have a read of these for upgrading W2K to W2K3

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325379

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555040

Paul

MCSE 2003

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein

 

[Unsalted]

WOW!

somehow I knew it wouldnt be easy! I thought I could just pop the disk in! and bingo!

good ole Mr GATES

 

[Unsalted]

OK After much reading, Im still none the wiser,

I have 1 Windows 2000 DC with only about 20 clients,

it runs nothing more than server shares and a few apps it has active Directory and also runs DHCP,

some articles are telling me, not to worry and just pop the CD in and upgrade..is this right?

 

[pagy]

I wouldn't be too happy about upgrading my only DC but it can be done. You would first need to 'prepare' active directory but running adprep (from the 2nd CD if you have 2003 r2) then put CD and upgrade the OS.
Things to check would be;
Do you have enough free space on C: for 2003
How much RAM is in the machine (At least a gig for 2003)
Does 2003 support your hardware

There are probably more questions to be answered and if this is your only DC the risks are high as the upgrade could go wrong and splat your DC.
Do you have ecxhange on this network?? With only 20 users you could just rebuild the DC with 2003 with your new domain name and join clients to the new domain

Paul

MCSE 2003

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein

 

[Unsalted]

Yes, this is an option, buy a new server with 2003 and start again, I can do this,

but I have never done it before, and am unsure of how to reconfigure it all...

in your experience is it an easy operation?

is it something I could practise on a spare server? then switch the Servers over?

I inherited the Domain, and my skills lie more in Hardware / Networking so Im a little nervous, Many thanks for the help and advice though.

 

[pagy]

You could defintely, and I would recommend, practicing this first.
You could download a trial version of 2003 r2 from Microsoft's web site and use Virtual PC or vmware to practice installing it. Or if you have a spare machine you could install w2k3 on that for practice.

If you give me some more information about your network I could give you some rough steps that you would need to go through.
You said that you have 1 DC, do you have any other servers?
Do you have exchange on installed?
Any other software installed on the servers?
What OS is on the desktops?

Paul

MCSE 2003

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein