RE: How to fix corrupt active directory...

Lem@community.nospam

Well, I thought I was on the right track to resolving the problem but for
some reason the clients are not recognizing the new dc as the primary domain
controller.

I transferred all the roles the preferred way, I also removed the check mark
from the old dc global catalog server and added the check mark to the new dc.
I was unable to demote the old server, so I unplugged it from the network to
test and the only place where I could get on the internet was from the dc
itself.

There was a little bit of progress where users are able to at least log on
to their systems and surf the internet only when the old dc is plugged into
the network.

One other problem occurred while trying to transition to the new dc, one of
its drives crashed and is unrecoverable due to our boneheaded raid 0 setup.

Also now I cannot give anyone access to files over the network I have to
copy the files they need to each of their systems.

So right now the old dc is in directory restore mode and does not show all
the drive info. But what I was thinking is to create a new forest/domain, not
a child domain but an all new domain and I was going to add all the users and
computers to the new domain.

Do you all have any suggestions on how to do this properly? Or should I be
going in a different direction? I've been researching and so far I haven't
found much on how to transfer users from a failed ad to a new one.

I am totally confused at this point as to what I should be doing next.

"Lem@community.nospam" wrote:

> Thanks to all for the input on how to resolve my problem, I am currently
> following the directions all of you have listed on rebuilding the ad
> structure and the ntfs file directory structure, thanks and I'll update once
> everything is up and running properly.
> Also this is a single forest/domain.
>
> "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
>
> > hello,
> > I need help with my windows 2003 native network,
> > My main 2003 std server dc crashed and when i tried rebooting it it showed
> > that the active directory was rebuilding indicies and never finished.
> >
> > The only way I was able to bring the server back online was to do a repair
> > with the windows server 2003 cd. Now none of the programs work, mmc cannot
> > open any files (active directory mmc, dns, sites and servers etc.) And
> > permissions do not take and now some users dont have permission to files they
> > created.
> >
> > The temporary fix i used for the permission problem was to give direct
> > access to the file because restoring access at the folder level does not
> > propagate to all the files and there is over 40gb of data and files on the
> > server.
> >
> > I have since added another dc but it does not work properly because anytime
> > the main dc with the corrupt ad is shutdown no one can log in.
> >
> > Does anybody have any idea on what i need to do to fix this problem, i dont
> > have a good backup of ad the backup ad is corrupt also. I think i need to do
> > a dcpromo to demote the server then promote it again but is my problem bigger
> > than that?
> >
> > Do i need to reinstall server 2003?
> >
> > thanks for any help and suggestions.

Lem@community.nospam

***The Failed Drive is on the old dc***

"Lem@community.nospam" wrote:

> Well, I thought I was on the right track to resolving the problem but for
> some reason the clients are not recognizing the new dc as the primary domain
> controller.
>
> I transferred all the roles the preferred way, I also removed the check mark
> from the old dc global catalog server and added the check mark to the new dc.
> I was unable to demote the old server, so I unplugged it from the network to
> test and the only place where I could get on the internet was from the dc
> itself.
>
> There was a little bit of progress where users are able to at least log on
> to their systems and surf the internet only when the old dc is plugged into
> the network.
>
> One other problem occurred while trying to transition to the new dc, one of
> its drives crashed and is unrecoverable due to our boneheaded raid 0 setup.
>
> Also now I cannot give anyone access to files over the network I have to
> copy the files they need to each of their systems.
>
> So right now the old dc is in directory restore mode and does not show all
> the drive info. But what I was thinking is to create a new forest/domain, not
> a child domain but an all new domain and I was going to add all the users and
> computers to the new domain.
>
> Do you all have any suggestions on how to do this properly? Or should I be
> going in a different direction? I've been researching and so far I haven't
> found much on how to transfer users from a failed ad to a new one.
>
> I am totally confused at this point as to what I should be doing next.
>
> "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
>
> > Thanks to all for the input on how to resolve my problem, I am currently
> > following the directions all of you have listed on rebuilding the ad
> > structure and the ntfs file directory structure, thanks and I'll update once
> > everything is up and running properly.
> > Also this is a single forest/domain.
> >
> > "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
> >
> > > hello,
> > > I need help with my windows 2003 native network,
> > > My main 2003 std server dc crashed and when i tried rebooting it it showed
> > > that the active directory was rebuilding indicies and never finished.
> > >
> > > The only way I was able to bring the server back online was to do a repair
> > > with the windows server 2003 cd. Now none of the programs work, mmc cannot
> > > open any files (active directory mmc, dns, sites and servers etc.) And
> > > permissions do not take and now some users dont have permission to files they
> > > created.
> > >
> > > The temporary fix i used for the permission problem was to give direct
> > > access to the file because restoring access at the folder level does not
> > > propagate to all the files and there is over 40gb of data and files on the
> > > server.
> > >
> > > I have since added another dc but it does not work properly because anytime
> > > the main dc with the corrupt ad is shutdown no one can log in.
> > >
> > > Does anybody have any idea on what i need to do to fix this problem, i dont
> > > have a good backup of ad the backup ad is corrupt also. I think i need to do
> > > a dcpromo to demote the server then promote it again but is my problem bigger
> > > than that?
> > >
> > > Do i need to reinstall server 2003?
> > >
> > > thanks for any help and suggestions.

Phillip Windell

The Clients won't find the domain if the DNS Settings in their TCP/IP Config
is not pointing to the correct DC.

Newsgroup messages have a slow turn around and there is no way that any of
us here can say for sure that we *really* know what is going on at your
place just by reading what information you give in your post,...so you
probably should not be trying to solve a disaster of this nature with
newsgroup posts. You are probably already past the point where you should
have called MS Support and are probably now at the point where you should be
calling for help to be brought in [physical humans comming to your
location].

--
Phillip Windell


The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------

<Lem@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:...
> Well, I thought I was on the right track to resolving the problem but for
> some reason the clients are not recognizing the new dc as the primary
> domain
> controller.
>
> I transferred all the roles the preferred way, I also removed the check
> mark
> from the old dc global catalog server and added the check mark to the new
> dc.
> I was unable to demote the old server, so I unplugged it from the network
> to
> test and the only place where I could get on the internet was from the dc
> itself.
>
> There was a little bit of progress where users are able to at least log on
> to their systems and surf the internet only when the old dc is plugged
> into
> the network.
>
> One other problem occurred while trying to transition to the new dc, one
> of
> its drives crashed and is unrecoverable due to our boneheaded raid 0
> setup.
>
> Also now I cannot give anyone access to files over the network I have to
> copy the files they need to each of their systems.
>
> So right now the old dc is in directory restore mode and does not show all
> the drive info. But what I was thinking is to create a new forest/domain,
> not
> a child domain but an all new domain and I was going to add all the users
> and
> computers to the new domain.
>
> Do you all have any suggestions on how to do this properly? Or should I be
> going in a different direction? I've been researching and so far I haven't
> found much on how to transfer users from a failed ad to a new one.
>
> I am totally confused at this point as to what I should be doing next.
>
> "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
>
>> Thanks to all for the input on how to resolve my problem, I am currently
>> following the directions all of you have listed on rebuilding the ad
>> structure and the ntfs file directory structure, thanks and I'll update
>> once
>> everything is up and running properly.
>> Also this is a single forest/domain.
>>
>> "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
>>
>> > hello,
>> > I need help with my windows 2003 native network,
>> > My main 2003 std server dc crashed and when i tried rebooting it it
>> > showed
>> > that the active directory was rebuilding indicies and never finished.
>> >
>> > The only way I was able to bring the server back online was to do a
>> > repair
>> > with the windows server 2003 cd. Now none of the programs work, mmc
>> > cannot
>> > open any files (active directory mmc, dns, sites and servers etc.) And
>> > permissions do not take and now some users dont have permission to
>> > files they
>> > created.
>> >
>> > The temporary fix i used for the permission problem was to give direct
>> > access to the file because restoring access at the folder level does
>> > not
>> > propagate to all the files and there is over 40gb of data and files on
>> > the
>> > server.
>> >
>> > I have since added another dc but it does not work properly because
>> > anytime
>> > the main dc with the corrupt ad is shutdown no one can log in.
>> >
>> > Does anybody have any idea on what i need to do to fix this problem, i
>> > dont
>> > have a good backup of ad the backup ad is corrupt also. I think i need
>> > to do
>> > a dcpromo to demote the server then promote it again but is my problem
>> > bigger
>> > than that?
>> >
>> > Do i need to reinstall server 2003?
>> >
>> > thanks for any help and suggestions.

Lem@community.nospam

Thanks for the suggestion but the clients are pointed to the new dc and still
cant get on the internet when I list the new dc as the only dns server, but
when I add the old dc the internet can be reached.

I also have called in support I am just looking at each of my alternatives
to solving this problem. Calling in support to microsoft wont necessarily
solve my problem because it was a hardware issue that caused the problem from
the beginning.

I am just looking to get a direction to go in since everything seems to be
falling apart.

If you can help please do...I'll also continue to do research myself.



"Phillip Windell" wrote:

> The Clients won't find the domain if the DNS Settings in their TCP/IP Config
> is not pointing to the correct DC.
>
> Newsgroup messages have a slow turn around and there is no way that any of
> us here can say for sure that we *really* know what is going on at your
> place just by reading what information you give in your post,...so you
> probably should not be trying to solve a disaster of this nature with
> newsgroup posts. You are probably already past the point where you should
> have called MS Support and are probably now at the point where you should be
> calling for help to be brought in [physical humans comming to your
> location].
>
> --
> Phillip Windell
>
>
> The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
> or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
> <Lem@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:...
> > Well, I thought I was on the right track to resolving the problem but for
> > some reason the clients are not recognizing the new dc as the primary
> > domain
> > controller.
> >
> > I transferred all the roles the preferred way, I also removed the check
> > mark
> > from the old dc global catalog server and added the check mark to the new
> > dc.
> > I was unable to demote the old server, so I unplugged it from the network
> > to
> > test and the only place where I could get on the internet was from the dc
> > itself.
> >
> > There was a little bit of progress where users are able to at least log on
> > to their systems and surf the internet only when the old dc is plugged
> > into
> > the network.
> >
> > One other problem occurred while trying to transition to the new dc, one
> > of
> > its drives crashed and is unrecoverable due to our boneheaded raid 0
> > setup.
> >
> > Also now I cannot give anyone access to files over the network I have to
> > copy the files they need to each of their systems.
> >
> > So right now the old dc is in directory restore mode and does not show all
> > the drive info. But what I was thinking is to create a new forest/domain,
> > not
> > a child domain but an all new domain and I was going to add all the users
> > and
> > computers to the new domain.
> >
> > Do you all have any suggestions on how to do this properly? Or should I be
> > going in a different direction? I've been researching and so far I haven't
> > found much on how to transfer users from a failed ad to a new one.
> >
> > I am totally confused at this point as to what I should be doing next.
> >
> > "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks to all for the input on how to resolve my problem, I am currently
> >> following the directions all of you have listed on rebuilding the ad
> >> structure and the ntfs file directory structure, thanks and I'll update
> >> once
> >> everything is up and running properly.
> >> Also this is a single forest/domain.
> >>
> >> "Lem@community.nospam" wrote:
> >>
> >> > hello,
> >> > I need help with my windows 2003 native network,
> >> > My main 2003 std server dc crashed and when i tried rebooting it it
> >> > showed
> >> > that the active directory was rebuilding indicies and never finished.
> >> >
> >> > The only way I was able to bring the server back online was to do a
> >> > repair
> >> > with the windows server 2003 cd. Now none of the programs work, mmc
> >> > cannot
> >> > open any files (active directory mmc, dns, sites and servers etc.) And
> >> > permissions do not take and now some users dont have permission to
> >> > files they
> >> > created.
> >> >
> >> > The temporary fix i used for the permission problem was to give direct
> >> > access to the file because restoring access at the folder level does
> >> > not
> >> > propagate to all the files and there is over 40gb of data and files on
> >> > the
> >> > server.
> >> >
> >> > I have since added another dc but it does not work properly because
> >> > anytime
> >> > the main dc with the corrupt ad is shutdown no one can log in.
> >> >
> >> > Does anybody have any idea on what i need to do to fix this problem, i
> >> > dont
> >> > have a good backup of ad the backup ad is corrupt also. I think i need
> >> > to do
> >> > a dcpromo to demote the server then promote it again but is my problem
> >> > bigger
> >> > than that?
> >> >
> >> > Do i need to reinstall server 2003?
> >> >
> >> > thanks for any help and suggestions.
>
>
>

Phillip Windell

<Lem@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:...
> Thanks for the suggestion but the clients are pointed to the new dc and
> still
> cant get on the internet when I list the new dc as the only dns server,
> but
> when I add the old dc the internet can be reached.

The Internet doesn't have anything to do with anything concerning if Active
Directory is screwed up or not. You need to be worried about DNS Naming
functionality *internally* on the LAN and looking at the event logs on the
DC,...running tools like DCDiag and NetDiag,...and seeing what the event
logs show on a couple test clients

> I also have called in support I am just looking at each of my alternatives
> to solving this problem. Calling in support to microsoft wont necessarily
> solve my problem because it was a hardware issue that caused the problem
> from
> the beginning.

Hardware isn't going to fix a corrupt Active Directory and neither is a
hardware vendor,...Microsoft will do that,...it doesn't matter that it may
have been a hardware failure that originated the problem.


--
Phillip Windell


The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------