I have an old NT 4.0 PDC and a brand new Win2000 Server, is it possible to
transfer the SAM database (mainly user and groups) to the Win2000 server
without installing Win 2000 on the NT 4.0 machine ? More or less like if I
would be doing a PDC to BDC 'copy', promoting the BDC to PDC later. I just
need the user accounts.
No, a Windows 2000 server cannot act as a BDC or PDC in a Windows NT
Domain. This is what you are saying when you talk about "transferring
the SAM database".
A Windows 2000 server can act as a Domain Controller only in a Windows
2000 Active Directory Domain and a Windows 2000 Active Directory
Domain uses Active Directory(!) rather than the SAM database.
One thing you could do is install NT on the Windows 2000 box, and make
it a BDC in the NT4 Domain. Then you could promote it to PDC. Then you
could change the Windows NT Domain to a Windows 2000 Domain by
installing Windows 2000 on the new box and making it the first DC in
the new Windows 2000 Active Directory Domain. The NT BDC will continue
to operate as a BDC in this setup, known as "mixed mode".
However I suggest that you do a lot of research first, on
http://www.microsoft.com and in other sites and books about upgrading
from an NT to a W2000 domain.
Cheers,
Cliff
(MVP)
