Hi, We are in the process of upgrading our Windows 2000 AD forest to Windows 2003. The forest consists of 1 root / placeholder domain & 2 child domains.The forest also includes Exchange 2003 running on Windows 2003 servers. Option-1 (Swing Upgrade) 1. At the root / placeholder domain,Introduce a fresh Windows 2003 domain controller into exisiting Windows 2000 forest & seize the FSMO roles. 2. Demote the Windows 2000 DC. 3. Rebuild the same hardware as a Windows 2003 Additional DC for the root domain. 4. Follow the same procedure for child domains as well. Option-2 (Inplace Upgrade) a. Perform an inplace upgrade of Windows 2000 DC playing role of "Domain Naming Master" at the root domain. b. Perform an inplace upgrade of Windows 2000 DC playing role of "PDC Emulator" at the root domain. c. Perform an inplace upgrade of remaining Windows 2000 DCs in root domain. d. Repeat steps a to c for child domains as well. Please let me know the best option & also if there is an Option-3. Also let me know if there aredocuments providing thestep-by-step procedures for these options along with best practices. Thanks in advance!!!

Hi, I recommend you to perform in-place upgrade. But be aware that we have Exchange 2003 installed in the network. The Exchange 2000 schema defines three inetOrgPerson attributes with non-Request for Comment (RFC)-compliant LDAPDisplayNames: houseIdentifier, secretary, and labeledURI. The Windows 2000 inetOrgPerson Kit and the Windows Server 2003 adprep command define RFC-complaint versions of the same three attributes with identical LDAPDisplayNames as the non-RFC-compliant versions. When the Windows Server 2003 adprep /forestprep command is run without corrective scripts in a forest that contains Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 schema changes, the LDAPDisplayNames for the houseIdentifier, labeledURI, and secretary attributes become mangled. An attribute becomes mangled if "Dup" or other unique characters are added to the beginning of the conflicted attribute name so that objects and attributes in the directory have unique names. I found a article which go through how to upgrade from Windows 2000 AD to 2003 when Exchange 2003 is installed. You may refer to it. http://telnetport25.wordpress.com/2007/09/16/upgrading-from-windows-2000-ad-to-2003-when-exchange-2003-is-installed-on-the-domain-controller-part-1/ http://telnetport25.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/upgrading-from-windows-2000-ad-to-2003-when-exchange-2003-is-installed-on-the-domain-controller-part-2/ Besides, please make a full backup before you start to upgrade 2000 domain to 2003 domain. Also please carefully read the below article, especially for Microsoft Exchange 2000 in Windows 2000 forests and Overview: Upgrading Windows 2000 domain controllers to Windows Server 2003 How to upgrade Windows 2000 domain controllers to Windows Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325379#2 Exchange 2000 Active Directory Connector Does Not Successfully Replicate Changes to Group Membership in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory in Forest Functional Levels 1 or 2 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=314649 Hope it helps. Xiu