Hi!
(If I am in the wrong forum, please redirect me!)
I have got to do some work on a NT4 domain - up to now I have always worked on 2000 and 2003 domains - and have the following questions, and would be very grateful for any guidance:-

(1) If I need to change a domain user's password, but the NT4 PDC is unreachable/down, can I change it on a NT4 BDC? (assume in 'User Manager for Domains') ?

(2) If a domain user's account is disabled, but the NT4 PDC is unreachable/down, can I enable the account on a NT4 BDC? (assume in 'User Manager for Domains' )?

Thank you!

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You don't need to be on a domain controller, User Manager for Domains can work on a workstation as well. Just so long as a PDC or BDC is reachable.

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Yep, that was the crappy thing about NT4. PDC is the only writable DC. The BDC's are read-only copies of the master. If your PDC is down and not recoverable, promote one of the BDC's to the PDC. Otherwise, the company shouldn't be doing routine maintenance on the PDC during normal production hours.

If you're working on a network that still runs NT4, you need to strongly suggest that they spend the money to upgrade to 2000 or 2003.

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Thank you for the replies. Could you clarify for me, (I understand that the PDC is the only writable DC), but are you saying, if the NT4 PDC is temporarily down, (for maintenance or whatever), can I still (1) reset domain user passwords and (2) re-enable disabled user accounts on a BDC, or do those domain users have to wait until the PDC is back up??
Thank you in adfvance for a response!!

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They will have to wait. The PDC is the only one that will accept changes to accounts. That's why I said they shouldn't do maintenance during business (or production) hours.

Here's a link to some info:
http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/windo...ntsdomains.html

If you ever have to- you promote a BDC to a PDC in Server Manager.

Hope that helps.

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Last edited by curiousgeorge on 01-03-05 at 01:03 AM

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Thank you curiousgeorge (and enforcer) for your swift responses. That was really helpful. Coming from 2000 and 2003 domain enveironments, the NT4 domain I am currently looking at is quite a culture shock!

Wish you a very happy and healthy New Year.

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