Demoting the Last Windows Server 2003 Beta 3 DC in a Domain or Forest with RC1 DCs May Remove Program Partitions

If you demote a domain controller that is running the Beta 3 (build 3590) prerelease version of Windows Server 2003 in a domain or forest that contains domain controllers that are running Windows Server 2003 RC1 (or later), you may have to delete a program folder partition on the domain controller. This condition may exist even if the domain controller that is running Beta 3 is not the last domain controller in the domain or forest that hosts program folder partitions.

This issue is caused by a modification that Microsoft made to Windows Server 2003-based domain controllers to preserve program compatibility with Microsoft Exchange and other Active Directory-aware programs. Starting with RC1, the hasMasterNcs attribute is modified under the NTDS Settings object on Windows Server 2003-based domain controllers not to list the program folder partitions that are hosted by that domain controller as Beta 3-based domain controllers do. Instead, starting with Windows Server 2003 RC1 Server, the program folder partitions are listed under the NTDS Settings object in the msDS-HasMasterNCs attribute .

This change may cause the last Beta 3-based domain controller to incorrectly interpret itself as the last domain controller in a domain or forest that hosts a program partition. Because DNS program partitions are created during default installations, DNS partitions will be the most common partitions present in domain and forest-wide program partitions.

This condition is temporary. The issue will be resolved after you upgrade all domain controllers to RC1. Deployments that start with RC1 or later are not affected.

Upgrade the Beta 3-based domain controller to Windows Server 2003 RC1 before you demote the domain controller.

Program folder partitions are automatically created by a DNS server that runs on any Beta-based or RC-based version of the Windows Server 2003 family.

If a program folder partition is hosted by multiple domain controllers, and if only one of the domain controllers is running a pre-RC1 version of Windows Server 2003, and if an administrator tries to demote that Windows Server 2003-based domain controller, the Domain Controller Demotion Wizard (Dcpromo.exe) behaves as if it is the last replica that hosts the program folder partition. Dcpromo then requires that you delete the program folder partition although the domain controller is not the last domain controller that hosts the program folder partition.