Missing DC and replication issues

[xewill0155]

Hi ,

Scenario.

A desktop pc was setup as a w2k3 DC in our exisitng tree to be a tempory spare in case the proper dc server died. We did this as we only had one dc and wanted some redundancy. Eventually we got another server installed with w2k3 and made that a DC as well. so we had dc01 dc02 and dc03.
The desktop pc that was dc02 has been "missing" for some time now ie its not where i left it. Nobody in the dept is sure whether its been formatted or what. Obviously we are now getting some AD replication errors

My question goes like this.

If i delete its account from the directory and some bright spark finds it and plugs it back in to the network what happens to my current AD ?

Am i right in thinking i can prevent replication using AD/Sites and service > NTDS settings and re-jigging the automatically generated config? Is this a safe thing to do?

Thanks nervously

 

[justin42279]

it might just be me, but after the trouble I went through when one of my DCs crashed, i'd take the time to try and find your missing dc so you can dcpromo it down.

Its a little more complicated then just deleting the account. heres a link that might help.

http://www.petri.co.il/delete_failed_dcs_from_ad.htm