Active Directory: Questions and Answers

What is the difference between Windows 2000 Active Directory and Windows 2003 Active Directory? Is there
any difference in 2000 Group Polices and 2003 Group Polices? What is meant by ADS and ADS services in
Windows 2003?

Windows 2003 Active Directory introduced a number of new security features, as well as convenience features such as
the ability to rename a domain controller and even an entire domain – see Microsoft's website for more details.

Windows Server 2003 also introduced numerous changes to the default settings that can be affected by Group Policy
– you can see a detailed list of each available setting and which OS is required to support it by downloading the
Group Policy Settings Reference.

ADS stands for Automated Deployment Services, and is used to quickly roll out identically-configured servers in large-
scale enterprise environments. You can get more information from the ADS homepage.

Related article: Active Directory for Windows 2000 and 2003: What's the difference?

The benefits of AD over NT4 directory services

Active Directory marked a shift in the way that Microsoft manages directory services, moving from the flat and fairly
restrictive namespaces used by NT4 domains and moving to an actual hierarchical directory structure. There's a sample
chapter from the Windows 2000 technical reference available here that will give you a good introduction into the major
differences between the NT4 and Active Directory directory services.

I want to setup a DNS server and Active Directory domain. What do I do first? If I install the DNS service first
and name the zone 'name.org' can I name the AD domain 'name.org' too?

Not only can you have a DNS zone and an Active Directory domain with the same name, it's actually the preferred way
to go if at all possible. You can install and configure DNS before installing Active Directory, or you can allow the
Active Directory Installation Wizard (dcpromo) itself install DNS on your server in the background.

What is the best way to migrate Exchange 2000 mailboxes to Exchange 2003?

The nice folks at MSExchange.org have put together a pretty detailed tutorial on how to migrate from Exchange 2000
to Exchange 2003 on new hardware. The MSExchange site also hosts online forums that are frequented by Exchange
MVPs who can help you with any specific errors that you run into along the way.

How do I design two Active Directory domains in a client network?

For Windows Server 2003, your best bet is going to be the Deployment Kit. The section on "Deploying Network
Services" will assist you in designing and installing your DNS servers, and the section on "Designing and Deploying
Directory and Security Services" will assist you with deploying Active Directory and configuring trust relationships.

What is difference between ADS and domain controller?

ADS is the Automated Deployment Service, which is used to quickly image, deploy, and administer servers and
domain controllers on a large scale. You can find more information at the ADS Technology Center.
How can I modify the path of all my users' home directory within Active Directory using a vbs logon script?

Check out the source code from Robbie Allen's "Active Directory Cookbook". Recipe 6.4 shows you how to modify a
property value for multiple users. Essentially, you select a container such as an OU or a domain and then use a FOR
loop to loop through each user object in that container.

How do I determine if user accounts have local administrative access?

You can use the net localgroup administrators command on each workstation (probably in a login script so that it
records its information to a central file for later review). This command will enumerate the members of the
Administrators group on each machine you run it on. Alternately, you can use the Restricted Groups feature of Group
Policy to restrict the membership of Administrators to only those users you want to belong.

Why am I having trouble printing with XP domain users?

In most cases, the inability to print or access resources in situations like this one will boil down to an issue with name
resolution, either DNS or WINS/NetBIOS. Be sure that your Windows XP clients' wireless connections are configured
with the correct DNS and WINS name servers, as well as with the appropriate NetBIOS over TCP/IP settings. Compare
your wireless settings to your wired LAN settings and look for any discrepancies that may indicate where the functional
difference may lie.

I am upgrading from NT to 2003. The only things that are NT are the PDC and BDCs; everything else is 2000 or
2003 member servers. My question is, when I upgrade my NT domain controllers to 2003, will I need to do
anything else to my Windows 2000/2003 member servers that were in the NT domain?

Your existing member servers, regardless of operating system, will simply become member servers in your upgraded
AD domain. If you will be using Organizational Units and Group Policy (and I hope you are), you'll probably want to
move them to a specific OU for administration and policy application, since they'll be in the default "Computers"
container immediately following the upgrade.

How do I use Registry keys to remove a user from a group?

In Windows Server 2003, you can use the dsmod command-line utility with the -delmbr switch to remove a group
member from the command line. You should also look into the freeware utilities available from www.joeware.net .
ADFind and ADMod are indispensable tools in my arsenal when it comes to searching and modifying Active
Directory.

Why are my NT4 clients failing to connect to the Windows 2000 domain?

Since NT4 relies on NetBIOS for name resolution, verify that your WINS server (you do have a WINS server running,
yes?) contains the records that you expect for the 2000 domain controller, and that your clients have the correct address
configured for the WINS server.
Windows sysadmin interview questions
By admin | March 29, 2006

1. What is Active Directory schema?

2. What are the domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?
3. What are the forest functional level in Windows Server 2003?
4. What is global catalog server?
5. How we can raise domain functional & forest functional level in Windows Server 2003?
6. Which is the deafult protocol used in directory services?
7. What is IPv6?
8. What is the default domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?
9. What are the physical & logical components of ADS
10. In which domain functional level, we can rename domain name?
11. What is multimaster replication?
12.What is a site?
13.Which is the command used to remove active directory from a domain controler?
14.How we can create console, which contain schema?
15.What is trust?
16.What is the file that’s responsible for keep all Active Directory database?

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Security questions

By admin | December 7, 2003

1. What’s the difference between local, global and universal groups? Domain local groups assign access permissions to global
domain groups for local domain resources. Global groups provide access to resources in other trusted domains. Universal groups grant
access to resources in all trusted domains.
2. I am trying to create a new universal user group. Why can’t I? Universal groups are allowed only in native-mode Windows
Server 2003 environments. Native mode requires that all domain controllers be promoted to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory.
3. What is LSDOU? It’s group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied to Local machines, Sites, Domains and
Organizational Units.
4. Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT? If the NTConfig.pol file exist, it has the highest priority among the numerous
policies.
5. Where are group policies stored? %SystemRoot%System32\GroupPolicy
6. What is GPT and GPC? Group policy template and group policy container.
7. Where is GPT stored? %SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\domainname\Policies\GUID
8. You change the group policies, and now the computer and user settings are in conflict. Which one has the highest
priority? The computer settings take priority.
9. You want to set up remote installation procedure, but do not want the user to gain access over it. What do you do?
gponame–> User Configuration–> Windows Settings–> Remote Installation Services–> Choice Options is your friend.
10. What’s contained in administrative template conf.adm? Microsoft NetMeeting policies
11. How can you restrict running certain applications on a machine? Via group policy, security settings for the group, then
Software Restriction Policies.
12. You need to automatically install an app, but MSI file is not available. What do you do? A .zap text file can be used to add
applications using the Software Installer, rather than the Windows Installer.
13. What’s the difference between Software Installer and Windows Installer? The former has fewer privileges and will probably
require user intervention. Plus, it uses .zap files.
14. What can be restricted on Windows Server 2003 that wasn’t there in previous products? Group Policy in Windows Server
2003 determines a users right to modify network and dial-up TCP/IP properties. Users may be selectively restricted from modifying
their IP address and other network configuration parameters.
15. How frequently is the client policy refreshed? 90 minutes give or take.
16. Where is secedit? It’s now gpupdate.
17. You want to create a new group policy but do not wish to inherit. Make sure you check Block inheritance among the
options when creating the policy.
18. What is "tattooing" the Registry? The user can view and modify user preferences that are not stored in maintained portions of the
Registry. If the group policy is removed or changed, the user preference will persist in the Registry.
19. How do you fight tattooing in NT/2000 installations? You can’t.
20. How do you fight tattooing in 2003 installations? User Configuration - Administrative Templates - System - Group Policy -
enable - Enforce Show Policies Only.
21. What does IntelliMirror do? It helps to reconcile desktop settings, applications, and stored files for users, particularly those who
move between workstations or those who must periodically work offline.
22. What’s the major difference between FAT and NTFS on a local machine? FAT and FAT32 provide no security over locally
logged-on users. Only native NTFS provides extensive permission control on both remote and local files.
23. How do FAT and NTFS differ in approach to user shares? They don’t, both have support for sharing.
24. Explan the List Folder Contents permission on the folder in NTFS. Same as Read & Execute, but not inherited by files within
a folder. However, newly created subfolders will inherit this permission.
25. I have a file to which the user has access, but he has no folder permission to read it. Can he access it? It is possible for a
user to navigate to a file for which he does not have folder permission. This involves simply knowing the path of the file object. Even if
the user can’t drill down the file/folder tree using My Computer, he can still gain access to the file using the Universal Naming
Convention (UNC). The best way to start would be to type the full path of a file into Run… window.
26. For a user in several groups, are Allow permissions restrictive or permissive? Permissive, if at least one group has Allow
permission for the file/folder, user will have the same permission.
27. For a user in several groups, are Deny permissions restrictive or permissive? Restrictive, if at least one group has Deny
permission for the file/folder, user will be denied access, regardless of other group permissions.
28. What hidden shares exist on Windows Server 2003 installation? Admin$, Drive$, IPC$, NETLOGON, print$ and SYSVOL.
29. What’s the difference between standalone and fault-tolerant DFS (Distributed File System) installations? The
standalone server stores the Dfs directory tree structure or topology locally. Thus, if a shared folder is inaccessible or if the Dfs root
server is down, users are left with no link to the shared resources. A fault-tolerant root node stores the Dfs topology in the Active
Directory, which is replicated to other domain controllers. Thus, redundant root nodes may include multiple connections to the same
data residing in different shared folders.
30. We’re using the DFS fault-tolerant installation, but cannot access it from a Win98 box. Use the UNC path, not client, only
2000 and 2003 clients can access Server 2003 fault-tolerant shares.
31. Where exactly do fault-tolerant DFS shares store information in Active Directory? In Partition Knowledge Table, which is
then replicated to other domain controllers.
32. Can you use Start->Search with DFS shares? Yes.
33. What problems can you have with DFS installed? Two users opening the redundant copies of the file at the same time, with no
file-locking involved in DFS, changing the contents and then saving. Only one file will be propagated through DFS.
34. I run Microsoft Cluster Server and cannot install fault-tolerant DFS. Yeah, you can’t. Install a standalone one.
35. Is Kerberos encryption symmetric or asymmetric? Symmetric.
36. How does Windows 2003 Server try to prevent a middle-man attack on encrypted line? Time stamp is attached to the
initial client request, encrypted with the shared key.
37. What hashing algorithms are used in Windows 2003 Server? RSA Data Security’s Message Digest 5 (MD5), produces a 128-bit
hash, and the Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1), produces a 160-bit hash.
38. What third-party certificate exchange protocols are used by Windows 2003 Server? Windows Server 2003 uses the
industry standard PKCS-10 certificate request and PKCS-7 certificate response to exchange CA certificates with third-party certificate
authorities.
39. What’s the number of permitted unsuccessful logons on Administrator account? Unlimited. Remember, though, that it’s
the Administrator account, not any account that’s part of the Administrators group.
40. If hashing is one-way function and Windows Server uses hashing for storing passwords, how is it possible to attack
the password lists, specifically the ones using NTLMv1? A cracker would launch a dictionary attack by hashing every
imaginable term used for password and then compare the hashes.
41. What’s the difference between guest accounts in Server 2003 and other editions? More restrictive in Windows Server
2003.
42. How many passwords by default are remembered when you check "Enforce Password History Remembered"? User’s
last 6 passwords.