We shift computers around a lot, and therefore need to rename several whenever we get new batches of systems in. Tried simply renaming a system while on the domain, but got an "access denied" error. I WAS able to disjoin the domain, remove the LDAP entry for the computer, log in as a local administrator, rename the computer, and rejoin the domain a different computer name. However, this is a HUGE pain. The number of reboots alone is a genuine time-killer. Doing it one several systems can waste an entire day. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks! Jason -- ================================================Jason Somers Network Administrator Red Barn Technology Group, Inc. 1235 Front Street - Suite 3 Binghamton, NY 13905 (607) 772-1888 x222
On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Jason Somers <jason at redbarncomputers.com> wrote:> We shift computers around a lot, and therefore need to rename several > whenever we get new batches of systems in. > > Tried simply renaming a system while on the domain, but got an "access > denied" error. I WAS able to disjoin the domain, remove the LDAP entry for > the computer, log in as a local administrator, rename the computer, and > rejoin the domain a different computer name. > > However, this is a HUGE pain. The number of reboots alone is a genuine > time-killer. Doing it one several systems can waste an entire day. Does > anyone have any suggestions? >Do all of these steps with only rebooting at the end even though windows tells you to reboot after every step. John
Jason Somers wrote:> We shift computers around a lot, and therefore need to rename several > whenever we get new batches of systems in. > > Tried simply renaming a system while on the domain, but got an "access > denied" error. I WAS able to disjoin the domain, remove the LDAP entry > for the computer, log in as a local administrator, rename the > computer, and rejoin the domain a different computer name. > > However, this is a HUGE pain. The number of reboots alone is a genuine > time-killer. Doing it one several systems can waste an entire day. > Does anyone have any suggestions? > > Thanks! > Jason >Can you be more specific about what you are doing and why? I surmise that you are renaming existing Windows boxes when you get in new computers, but are the Windows boxes servers or desktops? And why do you need to rename in the first place? What happens to the old boxes? The reason I ask is that there are possibly better solutions than renaming computers. This is especially true if you are doing this frequently.
Clients are NFP, and have about 100 workstations. Once or twice a year, they get grants for upwards of 10 new systems. These systems get distributed to those with the most need, and in turn, their systems get passed to whomever has computers less powerful than those. System names reflect different departments and subdepartments, so if you move a computer anywhere, its name must change. Make sense? -Jason ================================================Jason Somers Network Administrator Red Barn Technology Group, Inc. 1235 Front Street - Suite 3 Binghamton, NY 13905 (607) 772-1888 x222 Gary Dale wrote:> Jason Somers wrote: >> We shift computers around a lot, and therefore need to rename several >> whenever we get new batches of systems in. >> >> Tried simply renaming a system while on the domain, but got an >> "access denied" error. I WAS able to disjoin the domain, remove the >> LDAP entry for the computer, log in as a local administrator, rename >> the computer, and rejoin the domain a different computer name. >> >> However, this is a HUGE pain. The number of reboots alone is a >> genuine time-killer. Doing it one several systems can waste an entire >> day. Does anyone have any suggestions? >> >> Thanks! >> Jason >> > Can you be more specific about what you are doing and why? > > I surmise that you are renaming existing Windows boxes when you get in > new computers, but are the Windows boxes servers or desktops? And why > do you need to rename in the first place? What happens to the old boxes? > > The reason I ask is that there are possibly better solutions than > renaming computers. This is especially true if you are doing this > frequently.
Michael Wood wrote:> 2010/1/13 Gary Dale <garydale at rogers.com>: > [...] > >> The only down side is (the last >> time I checked anyway) is you need a commercial package like Ghost to give >> each image a unique SID. >> > > >From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897418.aspx > > Note: NewSID has been retired and is no longer available for download. > Please see Mark Russinovich?s blog post: NewSID Retirement and the > Machine SID Duplication Myth[1] > > [1] http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2009/11/03/3291024.aspx > >Thanks Micheal. So DD + M$ SysPrep will do the trick. Good to know.