Delete a Computer object from the Domain Controllers OU

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

You can use this procedure to delete the Computer object for a failed domain controller. If a domain controller fails and you cannot use the Dcpromo command to remove Active Directory, you must forcefully remove Active Directory and then clean up server metadata. When you perform Dcpromo normally, server metadata, the Computer object, and the Server object for the domain controller are deleted automatically. After you forcefully remove Active Directory, you must clean up server metadata for the failed domain controller and then delete the Server object and Computer object manually.

Administrative credentials

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group in the domain of the domain controller that you are removing. O

To delete a Computer object from the Domain Controllers organizational unit (OU)

  1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.

  2. Click the Domain Controllers OU.

  3. In the details pane, right-click the Computer object that is associated with the failed domain controller, click Delete, and then click Yes.

See Also

Concepts

Forcing the Removal of a Domain Controller
Clean up server metadata
Delete a Server object from a site