Disable or Enable a Computer Account

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Membership in Account Operators , Domain Admins , or Enterprise Admins , or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

• Using the Windows interface

• Using a command line

1. To open Active Directory Users and Computers, click Start , click Control Panel , double-click Administrative Tools , and then double-click Active Directory Users and Computers .

   To open Active Directory Users and Computers in Windows Server® 2012, click Start , type dsa.msc .

2. In the console tree, click Computers .

   Where?

   • Active Directory Users and Computers\ domain node \Computers

   Or, click the folder that contains the computer account that you want to enable or disable.

3. In the details pane, right-click the desired computer account, and then do one of the following:

   • To disable the account, click Disable Account .

   • To enable the account, click Enable Account .

• To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

• When you disable a computer account, the computer cannot authenticate to the domain until it has been enabled.

• You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

  To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

  For more information, see Disable or Enable a Computer Account (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138389). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

• Managing Computers

1. To open a command prompt, click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .

   To open a command prompt in Windows Server 2012, click Start , type cmd , and then click OK .

2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

   dsmod computer <ComputerDN> -disabled {yes|no}
   

To view the complete syntax for this command, and for information about entering user account information, at a command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

dsmod computer /?

• To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or the Enterprise Admins group in AD DS, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

• When you disable a computer account, the computer account cannot authenticate to the domain until it has been enabled.

• You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

  To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

  For more information, see Disable or Enable a Computer Account (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138389). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

• Managing Computers