Windows Tips

How do I back up Active Directory and the System State?

You can use the NT Backup utility to back up Active Directory. AD is part of a machine’s System State.

On Windows 2000 machines, the System State includes the registry, class registration database, and system boot files. On a Win2K server that is a certificate server, the System State also contains the Certificate Services database. On a Win2K machine that is a domain controller (DC), the System State also includes AD and the Sysvol directory.

To use Win2K’s Backup Wizard to back up the System State, perform the following steps.

1. Start NT Backup.
2. Click Backup Wizard.
3. Click Next in the introduction dialog box.
4. In the dialog box that asks what to back up, select Only back up the Distributed Service Set, and click Next.
5. Continue the backup process (i.e., select the backup media, etc.).

To manually back up the System State, perform the following steps.

1. Start NT Backup.
2. Select the Backup tab.
3. Select the System State checkbox, as the Screen shows, as well as any other drives.
   
4. Select the backup destination.
5. Click Start Backup.
6. Confirm the backup description, and click Start Backup.

To back up only the System State from the command line, enter

ntbackup backup systemstate /f d:\active.bkf

This command is a basic backup to file command. You can use more complex options if you prefer.

How do I configure a server as a Global Catalog?

To configure a Windows 2000 domain controller (DC) as a Global Catalog (GC) server, perform the following steps.

1. Start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Sites and Services Manager. (From the Start menu, select Programs, Administrative Tools, Active Directory Sites and Services Manager.)
2. Select the Sites branch.
3. Select the site that owns the server, and expand the Servers branch.
4. Select the server you want to configure.
5. Right-click NTDS Settings, and select Properties.
6. Select or clear the Global Catalog Server checkbox, which the Screen shows.
   
   
7. Click Apply, OK

How do I configure Group Policy to apply folder redirection settings to users who access the local network remotely?

By default, Windows 2000 doesn't apply Group Policy folder redirection settings to users on slow network connections. To modify this behavior, perform the following steps:

1. Start Group Policy Editor (GPE), and load the policy in question (you can also right-click the Active Directory--AD--container that the policy applies to, select Properties, select the Group Policy tab, and click Edit).
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Group Policy.
3. Double-click "Folder Redirection policy processing."
4. Select Enabled.
5. Select the "Allow processing across a slow network connection" check box. (You can also double-click "Group Policy slow link detection" to set what constitutes a slow link.)
   
6. Click OK.
7. Select Enabled to set the connection speed (500Kbps by default).
8. Click OK.
9. Close GPE.