2000 server... I want to add users from a text file.. plus i may have duplicates and do not want to have duplicates added. Can someone explain or provide a link for the best way to do this?? Thanks in advance

check out this links below: technet link using text file or VBS msdn link using excel Using batch file Every second counts..make use of it.

A few points to consider: User objects in AD can be identified by either: Their "pre-Windows 2000 logon" name (sometimes called their userID), which is the value of the sAMAccountName attribute. Or, their Distinguished Name (DN). An example DN might be "cn=Jim Smith,ou=Sales,ou=West,dc=MyDomain,dc=com". The DN specifies the "Name" of the object (the Common Name, which in my example is "Jim Smith") and where in the hierarchy of AD the object resides. You need to specify where in AD your new users will be created, either in the text file, or hard coded in your script. The text file must either specify the full DN of each new user, or the Common Name with an assumed container or OU (in my example, the OU is "ou=Sales,ou=West,dc=MyDomain,dc=com"). In addition, you must specify the value of the sAMAccountName attribute (which is a mandatory attribute). Otherwise, you might just use the same value for both the Common Name (the value of the cn attribute) and the "pre-Windows 2000 logon" name (the value of the sAMAccountName attribute). However, there are rules. The Common Name must be unique in the OU or container. There can be duplicates in the domain as long as they are in different OU's. If the Common Name has a comma, the comma must be escaped with the backslash escape character, for example "Smith\, Jim". Otherwise, most characters are allowed, including spaces. A few other characters must be escaped, but they are rare. Maximum length is 64 characters. The "pre-Windows 2000 logon" name must be unique in the entire domain. For users it is limited to 20 characters. The following characters are not allowed: " [ ] : ; | = + * ? < > / \ , Your text file must have enough information to create the users, and also to find the user in AD if it already exists. If the solution you decide on uses VBScript or PowerShell you can ask further questions in the Scripting forum: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ITCG/threads If you decide to use csvde or ldifde you can ask further questions either in the Scripting forum, or this forum, or the Active Directory forum: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverDS/threads However, we will need to know the format of your file and the scripting language you have decided on. It would help if you can post example code you are working on. Especially if there can be duplicates, I would suggest either VBScript or PowerShell scripts. It would be best if your file is a comma delimited file. As a minimum, you must decide: How the script will know in which OU/Container the new users will be created. How the Common Name can be determined from the information in the file. How the "pre-Windows 2000 logon" name can be determined from the information in the file. Your file can also specify other attributes, like first name, last name, description, password, etc. Richard Mueller - MVP Directory Services

Ok..bro, there are several ways, but as you are new to this issue, better follow the workaround below using this amazing tool CSVDE: google a bit for example, and hit the DC (+ take a backup b4 hitting)..

Ok..bro, there are several ways, but as you are new to this issue, better follow the workaround below using this amazing tool CSVDE: google a bit for example, and hit the DC (+ take a backup b4 hitting)..