Computer name page is grayed out after the DC died

[blin]

One of our clients called and told us that their DC died. They want to install a new domain in a member server, but Computer name page is grayed out and can’t change the old domain to the workgroup. If we try to change the computer, we get "The following error occurred attempting to change the computer name to "server1": (the domain "SERVER" was joined under the old computer name "server2"). Logon local admin or login safe mode don’t help. I assume the old domain policy apply to the server. Is there a way to clear the domain group policy without connecting to the domain? Or any other ideas?

Also I am not sure this is the member server. I think it could be the additionional DC. But I can’t run Active Directory Users and Computers. How can I find if it is a DC? If it is a DC, how can we recovery it as promary DC without a backup.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[blin]

From your description I understand that there are some problems after the DC is unavailable in the domain and you want to resolve them. Please correct me if I have misunderstood anything.

Based on my experience, if a server is a DC, you can’t change its membership from domain to workgroup. If it is a member server, you need admin privileges to do the changes. For this case, you can run a command to check the role of this server:
1. Logon the server and open a command prompt.
2. Type the command “wmic computersystem get domainrole” and then press the enter button. If the “Domainrole” value is “3”, it will be a member server, if it is “5”, it is a Primary Domain Controller. For more information about the value, please refer to the following article(The “DomainRole” part):
Win32_ComputerSystem class
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394102(VS.85).aspx

About your question: Is there a way to clear the domain group policy without connecting to the domain? Or any other ideas?
Answer: Based on my research, I am afraid we need to connect the DC and remove the specific GPO settings. So at least on DC is working in the domain so that we can do the changes.

For this case, I want to clarify the following things with you at first:
1. How many DCs are there in your domain?
2. About “One of our clients called and told us that their DC died”, if all the DCs in the domain are unavailable now? If so, how did the domain users logon their computers now?
3. After your verification, if the mentioned member is a DC, you can check and seize the FSMO roles to it and make it as a PDC of domain.
Using Ntdsutil.exe to transfer or seize FSMO roles to a domain controller
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504

Please understand that if no DC available in the domain, the users will not logon normally and can’t get the domain GPO settings, hence will not get locked by the GPOs. If any other things need to clarify, please feel free to let me know.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[blin]

The client doesn't know how may DC they have and they can't logon the DC for sure. They formatted the server and re-cretaed a new domain. Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------