How to clean up a domain controller - Need info quickly if possible

[asya1]

I'm going to explain the steps that got me to where I am so you can better understand what it is a need to clean up.

The server I am working with has been:

- set up as a dc for domain1
- boss decided he wanted a different domain name (non w2k compliant) so domain1 got demoted and domain2 got set up
- was running a little slow so co-worker demoted domain2 and set up a new domain with the name domain2
- had several issues due to the name not being compatible so yet another person demoted it and set up set up a new domain with the name domain1
- change dns suffix with domain change box had not been clicked so dns no longer works properly
- we are on administrator.servername.002 now somehow
- we are getting errors that are more likely to pop up if you have multiple domains and we only (intentionally at least) have one.

This weekend I am coming in to demote the current domain so I can set the dns up properly this time but I want to do the cleanup at the same time.
The new domain will be domain1.
Reformatting and starting from scratch is not an option at this time.
The dns server is internal, only 1 dc, only 1 dns server. DC and dns server are same machine.

How do I clean up the old residual stuff from all these domain demotions and promotions?

How do I get rid of the extra administrator folders? I just want administrator or administrator.servername.

Other than having to set up the AD, service dependencies, dns server and user/group accounts again is there anything else likely to get wiped when I demote the current domain?

I have only been working with Windows 2000 Server for about 8 days so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Marjorie

 

[Lee168]

Before demoting the DC, remove any services such as DNS or DHCP Services. Demote the DC and chnage computer name. Promote back again with the new computer name and install the DNS Services.

 

[wesskinner]

Also to clean up any old information on the machine you can use the NTDSutil program from the command line. Use the Meta cleanup and it should remove any old info on the server. If you havn't used it before it should be pretty straight forward, just use the "?" at any entry to get help on the commands.

If you are going to be demoting all of the servers using DCPROMO, make sure not to click the "last server in the domain" checkbox, or else any user information will be erased.

 

[GrnEyedLdy]

Asya1

If what you are saying is that there are still references to the old Domain Controlers or Domains in Active directory, then you can use NTDSUTIL and do a Metadata cleanup. Here is a link that will explain how to use it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q216498

Also, add the support tools from the resouce kit to your machine and you can create an MMC to use the ADSI snap-in (Active Directory Services Interface). The ADSI is a low level editor used to edit, modify, create and delete any objects in Microsoft's A/D.

I hope this helps,

Patty