Dcpromo.exe and Winnt32.exe log errors when you create a Windows Server 2003 domain controller in a Windows 2000 domain or forest or when you upgrade a Windows 2000 domain controller that resides in a Windows 2000 forest to Windows Server 2003

Symptom 1

You install Active Directory on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 member server. When you use the Active Directory Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe) to create a domain controller in an existing Microsoft Windows 2000 domain, you may receive the following error message: Additionally, you may receive the following error message in the Dcpromo.log file: Symptom 2

You install Active Directory on a Windows Server 2003 member server. When you use the Active Directory Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe) to create a child domain or a tree domain in an existing Windows 2000 forest, you may receive the following error message: Additionally, you may receive the following error message in the Dcpromo.log file: Symptom 3

If you run the Winnt32.exe command in Windows Server 2003 to upgrade a Windows 2000 domain controller to Windows Server 2003, and if the Windows 2000 domain controller resides in a Windows 2000 forest, you may receive the following error message:

Winnt32.exe and Dcpromo.exe log these errors when the Active Directory Preparation Tool (Adprep.exe) has not been run on the schema operations master or on the infrastructure master in the target domain.

Creating a Windows Server 2003 domain controller in a Windows 2000 domain or forest

The errors that are described in the "Symptoms" section can occur when you try to promote a Windows Server 2003 stand-alone server or member server to a domain controller in the following Windows 2000 Active Directory environments:

• An additional domain controller in an existing domain in a Windows 2000 forest.
• The first domain controller in a new domain of an existing Windows 2000 forest.

Before you can promote an additional Windows Server 2003 domain controller into a Windows 2000 forest, an administrator must successfully run adprep /forestprep on the schema operations master and run adprep /domainprep on the infrastructure master in the Windows 2000 forest.

Before you can create a new Windows Server 2003 domain in an existing Windows 2000 forest, an administrator must successfully run adprep /forestprep on the schema operations master. Additionally, those changes must be fully replicated to the helper domain controller that is being used by the computer on which Active Directory is being installed.

Finally, the helper domain controller that is being used by the computer on which Active Directory is being installed must have replicated all incoming changes that adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep made.

Note A helper domain controller is an existing domain controller that is in a domain or in a forest. Computers on which Active Directory is being installed use the helper domain controller to source existing Active Directory information when the Active Directory Installation Wizard is used to create new domains in an existing forest or to add more domain controllers to an existing forest.

Upgrading a Windows 2000 domain controller that resides in a Windows 2000 forest to Windows Server 2003

Before you can upgrade a Windows 2000 domain controller that resides in a Windows 2000 forest to Windows Server 2003, you must successfully run adprep /forestprep on the schema operations master, and then run adprep /domainprep on the infrastructure master in the target domain.

Additionally, any changes that adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep make must be fully replicated to the domain controller that is being upgraded.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. If you have not yet run adprep /forestprep or adprep /domainprep on the required domain controllers, see the "Upgrading the forest with the adprep /forestprep command" section of the following Microsoft knowledge Base article: For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   325379 How to upgrade Windows 2000 domain controllers to Windows Server 2003
2. If you have run both adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep, make sure that the following conditions are true:
   • Both adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep have completed successfully.
   • Any offline domain controllers, lack of network connectivity, or replication failures are not preventing forest-wide replication changes made by adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep

If there are no errors, simple replication latency may delay the replication changes and may make it appear that the changes not have been replicated to the helper domain controllers that are selected by the computers where Active Directory is being installed.

Note If you are running Exchange 2000, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for additional information before you follow the steps that are listed in the "Resolution" section. To do this, click the following article number:

For more information about how to upgrade Windows 2000 domains to Windows Server 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site: