Restoring Active Directory Through Reinstallation and Replication

You can restore a domain controller by reinstalling Windows 2000 Server on the damaged system, making it a domain controller, and allowing the correct information to be copied to it automatically by Active Directory. To do this, first use the Sites and Services snap-in on an existing domain controller to delete any references to the old domain controller.

To open the Sites and Services snap-in, from the Start menu, point to Programs and Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.

Then, on the damaged system, reinstall Windows 2000 Server. On that server, use the Active Directory Installation Wizard to reinstall Active Directory, and promote the server to be a domain controller. Active Directory and SYSVOL are brought up-to-date through replication from a domain controller.

For more information about the Active Directory Installation Wizard, see Windows 2000 Help. The Active Directory support tools are included in the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Support folder on the Windows® 2000 operating CD.

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