Lesson 1

When you install the Windows Server operating system, you cannot make the server a domain controller during installation as you can with NT. Instead, you must run the DCPROMO utility. You can do this immediately or at any time after installation. DCPROMO invokes the Installation Wizard, which allows you to choose the role of the domain controller and installs Active Directory on the computer. The Configure Your Server utility that displays immediately after installation contains instructions on using DCPROMO.
In the next lesson, you'll begin to learn this installation process with an overview of the Installation Wizard.

Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 domain controllers may not gracefully demote by using the Active Directory Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe).

This behavior may occur if a required dependency or operation fails. These include network connectivity, name resolution, authentication, Active Directory directory service replication, or the location of a critical object in Active Directory.

To resolve this behavior, determine what is preventing the graceful demotion of the Windows 2000 or the Windows Server 2003 domain controller, and then try to demote the domain controller by using the Active Directory Installation Wizard again.
Note For Windows Server 2008, the Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) is unchanged from Windows Server 2003 with one exception. In Windows Server 2008, you can run the dcpromo/forceremoval command to forcibly remove AD DS from a domain controller that is started in DSRM, just as you can in the AD DS stopped state. A domain controller must still be started in DSRM to restore system state data from a backup. For more information about how to do this, see the following TechNet article: