A couple more things about the issue. The server is too old and can't boot to the cdrom, when booting up in Safe Mode, the system will loop when you try and log in locally with admin account. When trying to boot in Directory Restore Mode, the system wil reboot just after the chkdsk. I've tried disabling the NIC in CMOS (onboard). PLEASE HELP!!
Thats the whole issue is that I can't get into any GUI interfaces. This thing really is a POS, but there is a ton of data on it, and its a DC. The nightmare continues, it's been down for 2 days and now I've got some upper brass up my ass. Thanks for any help so far, so if you have ANY ideas, please respond ASAP.
If you can, pull the hard drives and put them in another PC that has an OS as secondary drives. Use the other PC to read the hard drives, Get the data off first. If you can get the data, great you are about half way there.
If you have another running DC, and you have an old backup of your crashed DC, restore the crashed DC and let the other DC write fresh Active Directory to it when it comes up.
If you have only another running DC, consider siezing the FSMO roles held by your "Crashed" DC (if any) and rebuild the bad DC.
If you do not have another running DC, but you have a backup, then Restore the backup and update your active directory manually.
If you don't have any of these... Blame the person who failed to plan for this emergency, consider drinking something strong, and cry alot because you may be rebuilding your domain from scratch.
When the DC is up and running again, restore your data that you saved earlier but do not include system restore data unless you are willing to take a chance on having to repeat this process.
Thanks for all the advice, this server has been the server from hell. A little background, the server ended up having a controller failure (CDROM) on the mbd, hence it would never recognize or read a CD. Because of this I could never get into refovery console. Dell is sending new mbd. Decided to load OS on new server and restore program data. Used a Dell PE 2600 that ended up being DOA. Getting a POST kit from Dell on this one now too. Used ADSI Edit to remove all remnants from AD of old DC and will add new DC back to domain. Welcome to my personal hell. This is as much fun as a chicken with a cough. Thanks for all your help...
ADGod is right, if you cannot get to a desktop, then you have a Winlogon issue.
So you can't even get in through SafeMode (without networking)
How about booting to a command prompt?
If you can get to the command prompt, try running SFC /scannow
If you can get ERDcommander or a Winternals disk, you can open the registry and enable USERENV logging. From there you should see where the hang is. You'll also be able check your event logs.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.