Remove a Domaincontroller

If you have issues with a Domaincontroller (it's not being able to replicate, e.g. because it was offline for more than the tombstone lifetime - per default 60 days) it might be necessary to remove the DC from the domain and to join it to the domain again.

Sometimes it's just easy, but sometimes you'll have to force the demotion of the domaincontroller. Whatever you do, performing a "metatdata cleanup" is recommended to make sure that the old DC is properly out of the domain.

The KB articles for forceful demotion and metadata cleanup are here:

298450 Deletion of Critical Objects in Active Directory in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com?id=298450

332199 Using the DCPROMO /FORCEREMOVAL Command to Force the Demotion of Active Directory Domain Controllers
http://support.microsoft.com?id=332199

216498 HOW TO: Remove Data in Active Directory After an Unsuccessful Domain Controller Demotion
http://support.microsoft.com?id=216498

251307 HOW TO: Remove Orphaned Domains from Active Directory Without Demoting the Domain Controllers
http://support.microsoft.com?id=251307



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