Administrative Password - Problem

Hi,

I have a forest with two Servers running Windows 2000 Server, both of which
have AD installed. They system was not setup properly, and there was no
second account with administrative right, hence, only the Administrator had
the administrative rights. They systems are both running on a raid 5.

Sometime back, I had to change the password for Administrator, and I did
that using Active Driectory users and Computers console. This wasn't the
First Server that I had installed on the network, hence it did not have the
Global Catalog (as default).

Unfortunately, there was a problem (I don't understand exactly if it was
network, or some synchronization problem), and now, I cannot log onto both
the servers using neither the hold or the new password.

This network was not connected to the internet, and I am sure no one has
changed the passwords.

Any Ideas what I can do to reset my password?

Will appreciate any input, or explanation of what might have gone wrong.

Thank you!

Tj

Byron
Mon Nov 07 11:53:42 CST 2005

Hi TJ,

Reboot the server, during press F8, and choose Directory Services Restore
Mode. You should be able to log on to DSRM with one of the original installation
passwords.

From there, you can do an authoritative restore from backup of part or all
of the AD database.

Alternatively, you can use ERD from wininternals. They offer both an "emergency"
version (5-day license) and a full version.

Byron Hynes
Windows Server
Microsoft Corporation

http://spaces.msn.com/members/byronphynes

> Hi,
>
> I have a forest with two Servers running Windows 2000 Server, both of
> which have AD installed. They system was not setup properly, and there
> was no second account with administrative right, hence, only the
> Administrator had the administrative rights. They systems are both
> running on a raid 5.
>
> Sometime back, I had to change the password for Administrator, and I
> did that using Active Driectory users and Computers console. This
> wasn't the First Server that I had installed on the network, hence it
> did not have the Global Catalog (as default).
>
> Unfortunately, there was a problem (I don't understand exactly if it
> was network, or some synchronization problem), and now, I cannot log
> onto both the servers using neither the hold or the new password.
>
> This network was not connected to the internet, and I am sure no one
> has changed the passwords.
>
> Any Ideas what I can do to reset my password?
>
> Will appreciate any input, or explanation of what might have gone
> wrong.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Tj
>

Tj
Mon Nov 07 12:22:03 CST 2005

Hi Byron,

Thank you for the help!!

One quick question though. I know that the system was being backed up (using
the regular windows backup), but the system folder was not backup up (certain
folders were selected to backup).

Does windows backup AD automatically (or by default)?

Thank you once again.

Tj

"Byron Hynes [MS]" wrote:

> Hi TJ,
>
> Reboot the server, during press F8, and choose Directory Services Restore
> Mode. You should be able to log on to DSRM with one of the original installation
> passwords.
>
> From there, you can do an authoritative restore from backup of part or all
> of the AD database.
>
> Alternatively, you can use ERD from wininternals. They offer both an "emergency"
> version (5-day license) and a full version.
>
> Byron Hynes
> Windows Server
> Microsoft Corporation
>
> http://spaces.msn.com/members/byronphynes
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have a forest with two Servers running Windows 2000 Server, both of
> > which have AD installed. They system was not setup properly, and there
> > was no second account with administrative right, hence, only the
> > Administrator had the administrative rights. They systems are both
> > running on a raid 5.
> >
> > Sometime back, I had to change the password for Administrator, and I
> > did that using Active Driectory users and Computers console. This
> > wasn't the First Server that I had installed on the network, hence it
> > did not have the Global Catalog (as default).
> >
> > Unfortunately, there was a problem (I don't understand exactly if it
> > was network, or some synchronization problem), and now, I cannot log
> > onto both the servers using neither the hold or the new password.
> >
> > This network was not connected to the internet, and I am sure no one
> > has changed the passwords.
> >
> > Any Ideas what I can do to reset my password?
> >
> > Will appreciate any input, or explanation of what might have gone
> > wrong.
> >
> > Thank you!
> >
> > Tj
> >
>
>
>