Rebuilt DC can't join domain

[nsanto17]

I had to rebuild my 2000 DC b/c all backups failed to load sucessfully. No big deal since it had nothing on it except being a DC.

When i run DCPROMO i get an error saying it can't join the domian b/c the user already exists. Is there anything i need to do prior to running DCPROMO?

Thanks in advance.

Nick

 

[itsp1965]

The problem is that the information for the domain controller is still residing in active directory. You should make sure on of your other domain controllers has acquired the FSMO roles of this DC (if there were any) and perform a metadata cleanup in order to remove it from AD.
Refer to this link for more info;

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=216498

I would also recommend re-building this DC with a different hostname and IP

 

[nsanto17]

If i rebuild with a different Host Name and IP do i still need to do the Metadata Cleanup?

 

[itsp1965]

In order to keep your AD environment clean you should remove the defunct domain controller as your other servers will continue to attempt to replicate with it