Removing a dead domain controller from Active Directory

To remove the failed server object from the sites

1.) In Active Directory Sites and Services, expand the appropriate site and delete the node you are removing.

Active Directory Sites and Services can be found ->Start->Programs->Administrative Tools->Active Directory Sites and Services

In my example above, I only have one Domain Controller, but you catch my drift…

You will need to expand the node you want to remove, and delete the “NTDS Settings” first before being able to remove the DC. After this, you can then remove the Domain Controller that is no longer on the network.

Windows Server 2003 AD might display the below question, asking you if you want to delete the server object without performing a DCPROMO operation (which, of course, you cannot perform, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article, would you…) Select “This DC is permanently offline…” and click on the Delete button.

2.) Now remove the failed server object from the domain controllers container

In Active Directory Users and Computers, expand the domain controllers container.

Delete the computer object associated with the failed domain controller.

You may see the same message as before

AD will display another confirmation window. If you’re sure that you want to delete the failed object, click Yes.

3.) Lastly you will want to update all DNS information relating to this server by removing it from the name servers tab. When you remove from the name servers tab, DNS Server will automatically remove the A (Forward) and PTR (reverse) records for you. In addition to this, you’ll want to manually change all your static IP configurations to make sure nothing points to the IP of the server you deleted.