Re: HELP!! Cannot Find Domain When Logging on to Windows Server 20

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LAN,

Well it seems apparent that I did not know what I was doing:( I guess I can
tell you what I have done since installing the new server and you can tell me
if what I did makes sense and if you see that there is anything else I need
to do. Looks like a refresher course in server installation might be a good
thing for me at this point:(

Okay...so yes, I basically installed everything on the new server, verified
the settings, policies, AD and components were identical to the old server.
I then backed up data and the email store through WinBackup and shut down the
old server. I then restored the data and email to the new server.

Once complete, it seemed the main problem we had was that email wasnt
reconnecting as it should have. The solution I know of and confirmed on this
discussion board was to first, try to disable and reenable the cached
exchange mode (including rebooting before and after to get a fresh updated
ost file). WHen that didnt seem to work, I then recreated a fresh profile on
each machine and that seemed to take care of that.

The next issue that has been ongoing is that users where not able to login
from time to time to the domain at the bootup screen of XP Pro. After much
runaround on here and so forth, this morning I changed all of their internal
PC's to static IP's and specified the DNS address on the server and am about
to remote into the server and add the DNS host records. What confuses me is
that the DHCP and DNS services on the old server had added the host files in
DNS through DHCP. It has not done that on the new server which is what
prompted me to change to static IP's and add the host records manually since
I am leary of adding DNS records for DHCP clients when their leases could
expire and thus giving them new IP's that are different from those associated
to their respective computer names on the DNS records. Again...just what I
am seeing and trying to determine...If I am wrong on this, please let me
know:(

So as of now, the issues seem to all be worked out and this change to the
DNS and static IP's appears to be what the concensus is on MS Newsgroups as
to what the problem is and what needs to be done to fix it. Again, please
inform me if I am wrong and what to do.

FInally...a third party app on one of the local machines had attempted to
pull the new profiles I created for Outlook into a PST file instead of a
general mailbox. I have seen this issue once before and it did the same
thing as before by exchange seeing the problem and stopping the profile setup
and deleting the PST file...reverting back to the original profile when it
had failed. However, this time around, the pst file was deleted
automatically when the error occurred and about 1 weeks worth of email was
already in the pst file when it was deleted (pulled in 1 week to the inbox in
about 2 seconds before failing and deleting).

In reference to the above, the old server was setup by a different company
had not been backing up exchange at all. We spotted the issue and let
WinBackup do exchange backups on the new server. The problem is that I am
not able to restore the individual messages through the WinBackups because it
is prompting me to restore the entire mailbox from a specific date...which
doesnt include mail from the period after the backup was finished...thus the
potential of losing more email (have I lost you yet??).

So...we found out later that the weeks worth of email was lost and the
backups only went back 1 week and had already been updated. We have since
then recovered local mail from inside users from that date range...but the
backups have since been overwritten and the email from that range from
outside sources is no longer avialable. The old server did not have recovery
storage group setup...but they had Backup Exec 11d that could have been used.
They did not have the media for that until recently and we have set it up to
back up and allow recovery of individual messages through backup exec and
extended their backup schedule to three weeks of full backups.

I just say that to make sure I am covering every detail based on what we did
and the issues we have come across and our solutions to them. If you see
anything in here that catches you as being incorrect or a different solution
recommended...please let me know:) Thanks, LAN, for your help.

FYI - I know some of this is exchange related...but given the circumstances,
I wanted to cover everything in one thread so you can see what was done and
offer any solutions without referring to other posts. Also...if in fact you
might be able to offer any assistance off of this discussion board, my email
address is bstossel@xxxxxxxxx if you would allow me to forward you any useful
information via screenshots or otherwise. I cant afford $250+ a pop for some
MS flunky to try and guide me over the phone...I have wasted over $600
through that service and nothing has been fixed. I get better help from guys
like you and you personally have replied to numerous threads of mine and your
input is the best so far...thanks again and sorry for the lengthiness.
--
Thanks,

Binarydaddy
IT Consultant
Northwest Ohio


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

binarydaddy <binarydaddy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Danny,

While your input seems logical...this is a single server environment.
The old server was setup improperly about 4 years ago and it was only
a matter of time before the 9GB primary partition was going to be
full after updates and service packs.

Yes, understood, but that isn't really relevant here, I think.

The new server is a replacement to the old server and the old server
was the only server. This is a small environment (only about 15
users total). The old and new server are acting as a DC, File
Server, DNS and DHCP Server...as well as an exchange server.

But exactly *how* did you install the new server? Based on your description,
it isn't clear. This should have been simple - set up the R2 server in the
existing domain as a member server, than do the schema updates for R2 and
promote it to a DC. Then install Exchange, and mov mailboxes & rehome public
folders (never ever run dcpromo on an Exchange server).

Then you'd install DHCP/WINS, copy your data files (I like robocopy with the
/sec switch), make sure the new server has AD-integrated DNS working
properly, make it a GC.....and transfer the FSMO roles to the new server.
Then followed the official procedures for removing the first Exchange server
from the domain. At that point, you could've kept the old one up as a
secondary DC or shut it down...everything would be on the new box.

If you didn't do the above, what you've got now is a totally different AD
domain, regardless of what you named it,and in that case, yes, loads of
things aren't going to work right. Your computers would all need to be
disjoined/rejoined to the new domain, your user profiles migrated (ugh), and
all sorts of ugly tweaks would likely be required.





So unless there is still some validity in your resolution to the the
problem in a single server environemnt...I am not sure that it will
help.

I will say that after much research...I think it is a DNS problem.
The remote users arent having any problems. Only local users...and I
see that if I were to specify the DNS server address but let the DHCP
handle the rest of the requests...everything should work just fine.
Does this sound like a viable solution?

One of the biggest issues yet to be fixed is that some users cannot
connect
at initial login. They get Domain not found or not available.

This is a symptom of DNS not being setup properly.

Only happens with certain
users. Once we setup the new server, mimicing the old one's
settings, we were able to reestablish connections just fine. But
than, several users get
this error and it takes sometimes 5+ attempts before they can
connect to the
domain. All user accounts and settings were recreated with same
settings as
the old server.


My concern is with this step. When you set up the new server was it
connected to the existing domain?

The proper way to set up a new server in an existing AD domain is to
add the server to the domain as a member server, then run dcpromo to
make it a DC. Running dcpromo without the server being connected to
the existing domain will create a new domain. Even if you gave it
the same name as the old, it's still a new domain to the AD clients
because the SID is different. Different SID = new domain to the
clients of the old domain. This "sounds" like what happened in your
case because of this: " All user accounts and settings were
recreated with same settings as
the old server." statement.

Done correctly the user accounts would replicate from the old server
to the new server and there would be no need to recreate the user
accounts.

Sorry to say this but if you are recreating the accounts you have
done something wrong. My guess is that the new server was installed
while not in communication with the existing domain and you now have
2 domains with the same name.

I would suggest running dcpromo to the new server to make it a member
server, depending on how many users were actually using the new
domain you created on this server, you may have to manually go to
each desktop and move them to a workgroup, then move them back into
the original domain. Once all users are in the original domain, add
the new server to the domain as a member server (the same way you
would add a client PC to the domain). Once the new server is added
to the domain then run dcpromo to make it a DC. The user accounts
will replicate to the new server. This MUST be done while the new
server is connected to the existing domain. After this it's just a
matter of setting the DNS as AD integrated (DNS info will replicate
to the new server) making the new server a global catalog,
transferring the 5 FSMO roles from the old server to the new server,
restoring user files. If using DHCP you would change the entry of
the DNS server from the old server's IP address to the new servers
IP address, otherwise you would have to do this manually. At this
point you should be ready to run dcpromo on the old server to make
it a member server but I would suggest keeping it up and running
because if the new server goes belly up there is a second server in
the domain to hold the "AD info and user accounts" while you rebuild
the failed server WITHOUT creating a new domain.


hth
DDS


"binarydaddy" <binarydaddy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:1B3BBDE5-A2F7-48C8-B6AF-901AB708EE83@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Morning,

I have a client who we took over 3 months ago that was having
issues with their old server with WinSvr2003 and Exchange 2003.
Previous consultant setup their Local Disk as a 9GB partition and
it became full soon after we took over the account. We recommended
resizing the partition with a server
grade partitioning app. However, they decided rather than doing
that or reformatting and restoring backups, they would buy new
server.

Did not have discs for Windows Server 2003...so they bought 2003 R2
(not for
profit with limited purchasing capabilities through TechSoup). We
have not
done many server replacements in the past, but all have been with
same OS and
app versions.

We are having loads of issues now and the client insists its our
fault, not
theirs or the previous company's. We simply restored the backups
on to the
new server from the old (compnay docs and exchange DB).

One of the biggest issues yet to be fixed is that some users cannot
connect
at initial login. They get Domain not found or not available.
There is nothing on the server to indicate any problems. Only
happens with certain users. Once we setup the new server, mimicing
the old one's settings, we were able to reestablish connections
just fine. But than, several users get
this error and it takes sometimes 5+ attempts before they can
connect to the
domain. All user accounts and settings were recreated with same
settings as
the old server.

Is there something that jumps out at someone as to why this is
happening and
some quick fix to resolve the problem?

Also...they now want to setup the PC's so that all users can access
all PC's
if a machine goes down (roaming profiles). Some machines are
allowing other
users to login, others are not. How would I set that up so that
all PC's can
be accessed? And where do I find the profiles to copy over and
where do I copy that too?

I consider myself fairly knowledgable...but all of these issues are
making me think less of my IT abilities after 10 years. I am so
lost and if I had
$250 avialable to me...I would just call MS and have someone hold my
hand...but I don't:( Please help me...the client is ready to fire
us. --
Thanks,

Binarydaddy
IT Consultant
Northwest Ohio





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