Still trying to remove W2K PC from NT4 Domain...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pheasant Plucker®
  • Start date Start date
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Pheasant Plucker®

Hi there,

I am still struggling to carry out what should be a simple task - namely
that of decommissioning my old NT4 Server to remove it totally and continue
to use my existing W2K Workstation as a stand-alone PC.

As I understand it to allow me to keep all of my existing settings,
preferences, desktop etc. on my W2K PC and carry on as before I need to copy
over my existing user profile to a new user or default profile on this W2K
PC?

Currently there is only one user on my W2K PC and that is Administrator
although looking in Documents & Settings shows two Administrator users -
Administrator and Administrator.ABIT along with All Users & Default Users of
course.

I am guessing that the first Administrator is the active one on my Domain
called HOME.

The second Administrator.ABIT I am a little confused over as the default
computer name is ABIT2K so not sure where the ABIT name came from...

I am guessing again when I say I cannot copy over the profile as it is
active (and some files will be locked) until I add/create a new user but I
am unable to create a new user from Settings/Control Panel/Users &
Passwords/Add because despite my entering my name and despite me entering
HOME (my Domain) or ABIT or ABIT2K or leaving it blank I get the error;

"The user ABIT2K/Name could not be granted standard user access because
ABIT2K/Name does not exist"

Huh?

It does not exist because I am trying to create it or have I missed
something fundamental here?

Should I be setting up the New User on my NT4 box and not the W2K PC?

I had some help when I posted this question before (appreciated) but nothing
I have tried seems to work.

I desperately need to remove my failing & noisy NT4 Server but need to
continue to use my PC as I have always done.

Obviously I will setup either my DSL Router, WI-FI AP, SNAPServer or new
Lacie Ethernet Disk to become the new DHCP Server when the old NT4 box is
removed.

Are there any other things I need to be aware of when (if?:-) I remove the
NT4 box?
 
Pheasant Plucker® said:
Hi there,

I am still struggling to carry out what should be a simple task - namely
that of decommissioning my old NT4 Server to remove it totally and continue
to use my existing W2K Workstation as a stand-alone PC.

As I understand it to allow me to keep all of my existing settings,
preferences, desktop etc. on my W2K PC and carry on as before I need to copy
over my existing user profile to a new user or default profile on this W2K
PC?

Currently there is only one user on my W2K PC and that is Administrator
although looking in Documents & Settings shows two Administrator users -
Administrator and Administrator.ABIT along with All Users & Default Users of
course.

I am guessing that the first Administrator is the active one on my Domain
called HOME.

The second Administrator.ABIT I am a little confused over as the default
computer name is ABIT2K so not sure where the ABIT name came from...

I am guessing again when I say I cannot copy over the profile as it is
active (and some files will be locked) until I add/create a new user but I
am unable to create a new user from Settings/Control Panel/Users &
Passwords/Add because despite my entering my name and despite me entering
HOME (my Domain) or ABIT or ABIT2K or leaving it blank I get the error;

"The user ABIT2K/Name could not be granted standard user access because
ABIT2K/Name does not exist"

Huh?

It does not exist because I am trying to create it or have I missed
something fundamental here?

Should I be setting up the New User on my NT4 box and not the W2K PC?

I had some help when I posted this question before (appreciated) but nothing
I have tried seems to work.

I desperately need to remove my failing & noisy NT4 Server but need to
continue to use my PC as I have always done.

Obviously I will setup either my DSL Router, WI-FI AP, SNAPServer or new
Lacie Ethernet Disk to become the new DHCP Server when the old NT4 box is
removed.

Are there any other things I need to be aware of when (if?:-) I remove the
NT4 box?
Click to expand...

There are several ways of doing this. Here is a simple one:
1. Log on to the domain under your normal account.
2. Type this command in a Command Prompt and make a
of the output. Let's call it "X".
set userprofile
3. Log on locally under the preferred account name.
4. Type this command in a Command Prompt and make a
of the output. Let's call it "Y".
set userprofile
5. Run regedit.
6. Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList:
7. Change every occurrence of Y to X.
8. Reboot, then repeat Step 3.

You should now have your preferred domain profile while
logged on locally. Time to take the machine off the domain!
 
Thanks again for the quick reply Pegasus!

I'm afraid you're going to have to be patient with me - I must be a complete
doofus...

And this is a simple way <ducking>

1. Even I can do this one! ;^)

In 2. & 4. below you quote;
"Type this command in a Command Prompt and make a
of the output. Let's call it "X".

What exactly does "make a of the output" mean?

I guess you mean make a note of the output?

In my example on the HOME domain this will be C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator
When I log on locally it changes to Administrator.ABIT

3. I am unable to log on locally under my preferred account name as it
recognises nothing but Administrator.
I can't add/create a new user from Control Panel/Users and Paswords either
:-(

You did reply to me last time...I'm not usually this stupid and I appreciate
your patience ;^)

Kind regards,
-=pp=-
 
See below.

Pheasant Plucker® said:
Thanks again for the quick reply Pegasus!

I'm afraid you're going to have to be patient with me - I must be a complete
doofus...

And this is a simple way <ducking>

1. Even I can do this one! ;^)

In 2. & 4. below you quote;
"Type this command in a Command Prompt and make a
of the output. Let's call it "X".

What exactly does "make a of the output" mean?

I guess you mean make a note of the output?
Click to expand...

Yes. The verb got lost in cyberspace.
In my example on the HOME domain this will be C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator
When I log on locally it changes to Administrator.ABIT

3. I am unable to log on locally under my preferred account name as it
recognises nothing but Administrator.
I can't add/create a new user from Control Panel/Users and Paswords either
:-(
Click to expand...

Create a user from the Prompt while logged on as domain admin:
net user Pheasant /add
net localgroup administrators Pheasant /add
You did reply to me last time...I'm not usually this stupid and I appreciate
your patience ;^)
Click to expand...

You're welcome.
 
Are you a Saint?

You have the patience of one ;^)

Saint Pegasus...has a ring to it don't you think?

OK...have now created a new user account from the DOS prompt and all seems
OK.

I wonder why I was unable to do that from Control Panel?

Just to be absolutely sure on this one as I don't wish to hound you any more
than necessary(!) but I now need to replace any occurrence of the newly
created user (Pheasant) with that of Administrator?

There is nothing under ProfileList directly but there a couple of entries
looking like S-1-5-21-loads of numbers where one of the strings is
ProfileImagePath which reads %SystemDrive%\Documents and
Settings\Administrator so I guess this where it needs to be modified?

I guess at this stage now I have a new user created I could in fact logon as
neither Pheasant or Administrator (Domain) and logon as the local
Administrator and just copy the entire contents of Administrator (Domain) to
Pheasant?

Would that also work?

Just trying to understand how it all ties together...

Thanks again Pegasus - your help is much appreciated.

Kind regards,
-=pp=-
 
Sorry...still thinking this through...

I noticed when I logged on locally to the computers name rather than the
domain using Administrator or new user Pheasant my W2K PC network
identification still showed up as DOMAIN HOME even though I had logged on
locally to the computers name of ABIT2K

I would have expected it to show as WORKGROUP rather than DOMAIN or is this
usual?

Will this change when the NT4 box is removed or will I have to modify it to
suit?

Am I being too paranoid?

<ducking>

Thanks again.

Kind regards,
-=pp=-
 
You're being paranoid. If you have a working local account with
admin privileges then you will be able to access anything on the
PC. Breaking the domain link does NOT delete anything other
than the validation of your domain account.
 
See below.

Pheasant Plucker® said:
Are you a Saint?
Click to expand...

Far from it.
You have the patience of one ;^)
Nope.

Saint Pegasus...has a ring to it don't you think?
Click to expand...

The winged horse.
OK...have now created a new user account from the DOS prompt and all seems
OK.

I wonder why I was unable to do that from Control Panel?
Click to expand...

Don't know. Either you did not do it right or else there is
some corruption there.
Just to be absolutely sure on this one as I don't wish to hound you any more
than necessary(!) but I now need to replace any occurrence of the newly
created user (Pheasant) with that of Administrator?
Click to expand...

Why? Log on as Pheasant, change the password of
Administrator, then log on as Administrator.
There is nothing under ProfileList directly but there a couple of entries
looking like S-1-5-21-loads of numbers where one of the strings is
ProfileImagePath which reads %SystemDrive%\Documents and
Settings\Administrator so I guess this where it needs to be modified?
Yes.

I guess at this stage now I have a new user created I could in fact logon as
neither Pheasant or Administrator (Domain) and logon as the local
Administrator and just copy the entire contents of Administrator (Domain) to

Yes.

Would that also work?

Just trying to understand how it all ties together...

Thanks again Pegasus - your help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

You're welcome.
 
OK...taken your advice and removed my old NT4 box and all seems to be
working very well...THANK YOU for your time, advice and above all else your
patience! :-)

The noise decrease alone was worth it - the old Dual Pentium Pro with 9 hard
disks & 6 fans in total.

I still have one question though if I may <ducking> when I right-click the
My Computer icon and select Properties/Network Identification it still shows
as Domain and the Domain name.

Shouldn't this reflect the fact that it is now not on a domain?

Should I change this back to Workgroup?

The reason I ask is I still have a Quantum SnapServer attached to the switch
(which I can access but that also is set for Windows Domain Security) and I
want to install a Lacie Ethernet disk which comes preconfigured for use in a
Workgroup so it might make things easier, more straightforward and correct?

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-
 
See below.

Pheasant Plucker® said:
OK...taken your advice and removed my old NT4 box and all seems to be
working very well...THANK YOU for your time, advice and above all else your
patience! :-)

The noise decrease alone was worth it - the old Dual Pentium Pro with 9 hard
disks & 6 fans in total.

I still have one question though if I may <ducking> when I right-click the
My Computer icon and select Properties/Network Identification it still shows
as Domain and the Domain name.
Click to expand...

You did not take the workstation off the domain by shutting
down the domain controller. To take it off the domain requires
you to go into Control Panel / System / Network Identification /
Rename this computer. Now place it into a Workgroup called
"Workgroup", "Home" or some such word.
Shouldn't this reflect the fact that it is now not on a domain?
Click to expand...

It is still on a domain.
 
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