Removing Active Directory

Active Directory is removed from a domain controller using the same command that is used to install it—Dcpromo.exe. When you run this command on a computer that is already a domain controller, the Active Directory Installation Wizard notifies you that it will uninstall Active Directory if you choose to proceed. What Wizard pages follow depend on whether the domain controller from which you are removing Active Directory is the last domain controller for the domain or not. This section will discuss the implications of removing Active Directory from both the last domain controller and an additional domain controller in a Windows Server 2003 domain.

What happens to the domain controller when you remove Active Directory? At a high level, the directory database is deleted, all of the services required for Active Directory are stopped and removed, the local SAM database is created, and the computer is demoted to a stand-alone or member server. More specifically, what happens will depend on whether the domain controller is an additional domain controller, or the last domain controller in the domain or forest.