I recently had a dc get hit by lightning and I could not recover the system. I replaced the motherboard and reinstalled win 2003 and now it won't let me join the domain. I went through the metadata cleanout and it still will not let me join. Any suggestions?? Thanks Bob

I think you use the same computername, look if the old computeraccount is still in AD. be sure that you clear out all info from the old DC in DNS aswell

I used the same name as the previous and the dc is in the domain controller folder and it is still in AD sites and services but as it states in the MS document that I do not need to remove it from those areas unless I am renaming it something different. Thanks Bob

If you remove the old computeraccount from AD and from sites and services you will be able to join domain with your new computer. when you run dcpromo it will replicate from other DC's in AD,you will just have to wait for replication to finish

You reinstalled windows... hence... a different SID. Old computer account will not work. Just naming the computer the same name will not get you there.

Thanks everyone. I was going by the Ms document and they say that if you use the same name you don't need to do remove it from sites and services and Domain controllers Builtin. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything in the way I was approaching the issue. Thanks Bob