So it was late in the afternoon, and brain fade set in...I wanted to promote a workgroup server into a domain server, and activated Active Directory through server management.All went fine, until I found that there were several Vista Home systems in the office that no longer had network access.I decided to remove Active Directory, probably should have gone through control panel->system->change network configuration first, but I didn't.After I rebooted, no one can sign on, not even at the console.Is there anyway to correct this without re-installing the OS.Jack

Specifically, what did you remove Active Directory from and how did you do it? Did you run DCPROMO?

I started at "Configure your server Wizard", and selected "Domain Controller (active directory)=yes" and followed the yellow brick road. Setting it as a new domain controller for a new forest. I reversed this process by starting "configure your server wizard", selecting "domain Controller(active directory) =no" and continuing, answering "yes" to all questions.. My instincts tell me that there are two different logon programs, and two different password databases, and I now have a mismatch.

More bad news.The machine still functions as a DNS server.When I tried to boot from the original CD into repair mode, the computer re-boots itself as soon as enter is pressed following the "Which instance of windows do you want to repair: C:\Windows>" prompt.

So I installed a second disk, and re-installed the OS, so that now the boot drive is E: and C: is a just a data drive. Any ideas on how to patch drive C so that I can boot from it again?

https://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?&query=password&lang=en&cr=US&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory&p=1&tid=1a81dd4f-14f7-498d-8bcc-0ec96dab283d&mid=73e4651a-58ae-49c6-b910-f51be8e2a1eaI found this link which appears to describe the same problem.

Hi, Since here is the froum for Exchange,I recommend you to post the issue in Newsgroup for Windows Server to get relevant help. Discussions in Active http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory&cat=en_US_09e458e2-5a48-4d89-a40f-847f472bc08e&lang=en&cr=US Hope it helps. Xiu