Formatting original NT4 PDC

[jallen]

Our organization upgraded to W2K (mixed mode-still have 2
BDC's) just before I took over for the network engineer
that left the company. W2K Active Directory was installed
on a separate machine, and the original NT4 PDC was shut
down and disconnected from the network. I have no way of
knowing it's status. I am preparing to reformat it for use
elsewhere. I'm planning to leave it disconnected from the
network, but are there any issues of which I need to be
aware?

 

[Herb Martin]

Our organization upgraded to W2K (mixed mode-still have 2
BDC's) just before I took over for the network engineer
that left the company. W2K Active Directory was installed
on a separate machine, and the original NT4 PDC was shut
down and disconnected from the network. I have no way of
knowing it's status. I am preparing to reformat it for use
elsewhere. I'm planning to leave it disconnected from the
network, but are there any issues of which I need to be
aware?

Not as long as you format or re-install a new operating system on it.

Do NOT bring it online as it will compete with the other (real) DCs
running Win2000+

 

[jallen]

Yeah, I knew it would be a problem if I brought it online.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Herb Martin]

Maybe I should have pointed this out before, but to the operating systems
and the Active Directory (processes), the "computer" is the load of the OS.

If you change the load, it's a new machine. This is not true for an
"upgrade"
because that keeps the old load and just updates it in place.