Backup and Recovery
Q: Why does UPromote back up the registry?
A: The registry contains all settings required to create a domain controller. Most importantly, it contains the password database. Backing up the registry ensures that if a problem occurs during the upgrade you can recover your machine by restoring your registry.
UPromote has been thoroughly tested and is safe and reliable. However factors outside of Algin's control, such as a corrupt registry hive or an unreliable disk controller could cause UPromote to fail.
Q: How do I recover the registry?
At the beginning of the conversion process, UPromote asks for permission to create an Emergency Recovery Disk (ERD). This is strongly recommended. If the conversion fails, you can restore the registry using the ERD.
Use the following procedure to restore the registry with the ERD:
- Boot using the NT boot diskette. Type "R" when prompted.
- Insert the Emergency Recovery Disk when prompted,
- Check the box for "Inspect Registry". Uncheck all other items.
- Check the box for the these registry keys:
- DEFAULT
- SOFTWARE
- SYSTEM
- SECURITY AND SAM
If you changed the SID, you need to restore
the SID ownership of your files. To restore the ownership of your files,
run
If your computer was originally a BDC, you
need to rejoin the BDC to the domain. On the BDC run the utility NETDOM.EXE from
the NT Resource Kit.
NETDOM.EXE BDC mybdc /ADD
NETDOM.EXE BDC mybdc /RESET
Where mybdc is the name of your BDC.
If done correctly these steps should completely restore your computer back to its original state.
Q: I created a BDC. I later changed my mind and demoted my computer back to a standalone server. What happened to my old user accounts?
A: A BDC is a read-only replica of the PDC's password database. When you created the BDC, you overwrote the old local accounts in the registry with accounts from the PDC. The only way to restore the old local accounts is to reload the original registry.