Demote 2003 DC from within Directory Services Restore Mode

Posted by adam on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by adam
Published on 2010-02-25T22:26:52Z Indexed on 2010/04/10 13:43 UTC
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Filed under:

windows-server-2003

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dcpromo

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active-directory

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directory-services

We've had a child DC fail on us, and can't get into Windows on it as Directory Services is failing. A restore of the backed-up active directory hasn't worked due to a corruption, and so we've decided to demote the child DC and - for now - run AD from the PDC only.

However, dcpromo /demote doesn't work from Safe Mode or Directory Services Restore Mode.

We don't want to do a complete reinstall, as we have Exchange running on the child DC.

Anyone know how (if?) we can demote the DC within safe mode or otherwise get into windows?

Thanks

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