I have reviewed the document that accompanies the microsoft utility that allows you to rename a domain and all i can say is this looks like a good deal of work! Here is our situation - we have 2 server which are both DC's of a domain. These two servers are from an old company and are now going to be used at a new company. Therefore, we would like to use a new local domain name. We heard about the domain rename utility so we figured that we would research this. My question is, might it be better off for us to just demote both DCs and promote them and in the process create the new domain? These servers aren't actually in production right yet. The one server is an exchange 2003 server so I am thinking at worst we may just need to reinstall exchange. Yet another idea I was pondering was to just start from scratch - in other words, back up the servers, format them and start all over. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

theres a lot of docs on this topic....go through those first.. http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=229757&start=0 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738208%28WS.10%29.aspx

Hi there,Thank you for posting in windows server forums, "My question is, might it be better off for us to just demote both DCs and promote them and in the process create the new domain? "If the old company data is not required for you anymore , in technical terms, ifyou are not using the objects / resources of old DC ( such as users, computers, printers, groups etc...) , you can safely demote the dc and promote for new one along with the dns server creating a dedicated AD integrated zone.

Hello,if i understand you correct you have a running domain environment and a domain from an older company. If there are no resources on the old domains machines just reinstall then from scratch including formatting the drives.So your production domain should be renamed which basically is a straight forward process if you follow exactly the Microsoft documentation:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb405948.aspxhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/838623http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738208(WS.10).aspxImprtant for Exchange and domain rename:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842116http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=24b47d4a-c4b9-4031-b491-29839148a28c&displaylang=enIf you like to start from scratch you can also built a new forest/domain with the old servers and use ADMT to migrate th existing domain to the new one.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6F86937B-533A-466D-A8E8-AFF85AD3D212&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B1F816C0-4E2B-4E5D-B256-1AC304062367&displaylang=enFor Exchange you make your life easy if you export the mailboxes to .pst and import them into a new installed Exchange server with exmerge:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=429163ec-dcdf-47dc-96da-1c12d67327d5&displaylang=enhttp://www.petri.co.il/brick_level_backup_of_mailboxes_by_using_exmerge.htmBest regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.