The "Attribute is copied when duplicating a user" check box is unavailable in the Active Directory Schema console

When you try to set the Attribute is copied when duplicating a user option in the Active Directory Schema console for a particular attribute, the check box is unavailable. This problem occurs even if you are a member of the Schema Administrator group.

The Attribute is copied when duplicating a user option is only available for attributes of the user class. You can use the Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit tool to verify that the attribute is part of the user class in your Active Directory Schema.

You can use ADSI Edit to work around this problem. ADSI Edit is included in Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools on the Microsoft Windows 2000 CD-ROM. To install Windows 2000 Support Tools, use the Setup.exe program located in the Support\Tools folder.

To use ADSI Edit to manually set the schema flag that determines whether an attribute is copied when you duplicate a user, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Windows 2000 Support Tools, click Tools, and then click ADSI Edit. Connect to the Schema naming context on the server that is the schema master. Schema Manager must connect to this server.
2. Browse through the containers, right-click the attribute you want to modify, and then click Properties.
3. In the Schema attribute properties dialog box, select the searchFlags value in Select a property to view, and then edit the value as an integer. This field is treated like a binary bit field; the fifth bit controls whether the attribute is copied when you duplicate a user.
4. If the option to copy an attribute is enabled, subtract 16 to disable it. To enable the option to copy an attribute, add 16. For example, 16 in decimal notation is equal to 10000 in binary notation. If the searchFlags option is part of the user class (integer value set to 1), add 16 (1+16 = 17 or 10001 in binary form). To disable the option, subtract 16 (17-16 = 1 or 1 in binary form).

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.