Re: Need Recommendations on NT4 > WS2003 Migration

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

From: Jeff Middleton [SBS-MVP] (jeff_at_cfisolutions.com)
Date: 02/12/05 

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:12:13 -0600

Hello,

Try this link to see if it helps you with the policy migration.

How to use the Group Policy Migration utility to migrate Windows NT System
Policy settings to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;317367

One of the more complicated issue for making them migration with any XP/W2k
workstations or servers moving from NT4 based Policy to AD based Group
Policy is the persistence of hard edit registry policies on those machines.
The computer and user policies that were set by NT4 based config.pol and
NTconfig.pol files will remain in the last state unless you clear them. That
can be done by using a policy to revert them to null (not set) condition
(default, not unchanged at logon), but that's a real challenge for User
policy.

Once you move the domain to AD, any W2k/XP/W2k3 machines will ignore the NT
policy files and expect to use Group Policy, but they will not ignore the
policy conditions already tattooed to the registry in a previous logon and
policy application.

I didn't see a clarification about the Novell system leaving or not, so I'm
not commenting on that. I thought you could buy Windows Server 2003 Web
Edition as Open License, but I didn't verify that.

The best way to maintain your accounts, or frankly to bring the migration
off the way you probably want to would be to add a temporary BDC to the
network, then in-place upgrade it to Win2k3. From there, you can bring the
new server into the domain as another new W2k3 DC.

If you go to my website at www.SBSmigration.com, you will see an outline of
how to accomplish this in such a way that the entire project can be done
offline from the production with the only downtime required at the point you
move the data from the old server to the new one. If the free information at
my site isn't enough to make it clear how to accomplish this, I have a full
project kit that explains the details in a step by step project process that
I also provide direct support with. The site doesn't emphasize it at this
time, but I have documentation specific to handling NT4/SBS 4.x upgrades to
Win2003/SBS2003, or pretty much any Windows domain to any Windows domain.
That you aren't using SBS isn't really an issue, it's the idea of managing a
small network with relatively few DCs that is the key here.

Jeff Middleton SBS-MVP
YCST@SBSmigration.com

"hkrause" <hkrause@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:85DAF2AD-20C5-4223-BD30-76D4ABCCEA93@microsoft.com...
> We currently have a single NT4 sp6a server (PDC) running a critical ERP
> application, WINS and DHCP. DNS is installed, but we don't use it - server
> and all workstations point to DNS at our external ISP. NT4 is OEM copy
that
> came with the server, which is quad-CPU (400Mhz), 1GB RAM. All drives are
> RAID5.
>
> NT4 server is single-domain with all objects in a single OU. There are
very
> few groups as security is handled within the ERP software. There are NO
other
> Win servers (ie. no BDC) in the environment.
>
> We also have a Novell 4.11 server providing print and file services. There
> are around 150 client workstations, mostly Windows 9x with some Win NT4
and
> XP.
>
> We are getting a new server with WinServer 2003 (OEM). We do not currently
> plan to upgrade the NT4 server. The 2003 box will become our PDC with the
ERP
> app moved there. NT4 box will be taken offline and/or eventually used as a
> non crucial internal web server (5 yr old box w/hardware problems).
>
> What is the best/easiest way to transfer user accounts, groups and
passwords
> into the 2003 server? I need to keep the NT4 server up while we switch ERP
> software, so will user changes be replicated to the 2003 server in the
> interim?
>
> Also, is it possible to obtain WinSrv2003 Web Edition for the old NT box
> that has OEM software? The vendor indicates that they only sell it with a
> system and can't provide a full or upgrade package for this machine.
>
> Any thoughts on things to watch out for or be aware of would be
appreciated.
> Thx.
>

Relevant Pages

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