Microsoft Domain rename - simple fix for problems after the procedure.
So I performed a domain rename recently using Microsoft's "Domain Rename Tools".
I was building a lab domain that needed to be an exact copy of my production AD (active directory). But as the lab runs its own network on a separate Internet connection and is less secure than the production network, I didn't want the "real" domain name available for hackers. In other words if the lab domain got hacked and the AD security info was compromised at least they wouldn't have the production network name to search for.
I'm not going into the procedure for a domain rename if that's what you need you can get the rename procedure document here. Also you can download the domain rename tools here.
As you have probably seen yourself many AD's have two domain names; the NetBIOS and the internet or FQDN. In my case it was "hollow" for the NetBIOS side and "hollowtech.com" for the "domain name". I restored the image and tried a second time, no go, still didn't work. So I found this simple fix. (I tried this as a guess and got lucky.)
The Fix: After the domain rename tool is complete; open the registry editor and highlight the "root" of the registry tree. Right click and choose "export".
Save the exported file to your desktop or wherever you can find it. Now go to that saved file, it will have an extension of ".reg". Whatever you do don't double click it! Open it with Notepad, if it's really large it may take a while but it will open eventually. Once open got to "Edit -> Replace".
Type in the original domain name "whatever.com" in the "find what" box and the new FQDN in the replace box. After it completes do this same thing again this time using the NetBIOS name (whatever yours is).
Now scan through the file one more time to double check you found every instance of the domain name. If you're confident you got all of them save the changes. Now open the registry editor again and choose import. You could also double click the reg file you just changed and it will also import it for you.
Now restart the server and you should be good-to-go. This has worked for me several times. I have used this on one and two server domains (lab systems). If you have more than one controller (server) you should dcpromo to remove all the other systems and then re-promote them into the new domain.
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written by Jolly Timbol , April 12, 2009
You just saved me a complete reformat of my server that also has MS Exchange 2003.
Let me know if you happen to drop by Manila, Philippines. I need to treat you for dinner and drinks.
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