I run a Domain Controller in my home. I recently removed my desktop from the domain hoping to fix a problem I was having with a WMC extender holding a connection. However, when I did this I was unable to logon. At first, it still required me to enter both the username and the password. Then, I reboot it again and it provided the username "desktop_local" as the only option for me. I think this is partially based on my computer name which is desktop. Anyway, I believe I know the password. however, when I enter it it gives this error. "The Group Policy Service Failed the logon. Access is Denied." I'm pretty sure I can fix the problem by doing a system restore with the windows disk, but I want to know what caused all this so I can remove my desktop from my domain without fear of it happening again. Zach

Wow, no replies after a day. I guess this is pretty complicated. anyway, I think what might have happened is i might have dissabled the local Admin account and ended up with no local accounts on the machine. When I looked up the registry location of HKLM/software/microsoft/WindowsNT/profilelist (think I missed some there) it only showed three profiles. None of which appeared to be a none system profile (one system, one networking, and one was something else). Therefore, the registry fix I found online won't work. Second, I get the recovery method to recognize my OS install because I can't seem to get the necessary drivers installed. I'll work on it a bit more, but I think I might be screwed. I might just be having to rebuild up from scratch. Fortunately for me I've got my HD partitioned. Any more thoughts on this?

Do you have a local account when you remove the computer from the domain? If not, that is the root cause. You need to create a local account for local log on. To do so, boot in Safe Mode and log on with the build-in Administrator account. Then create an local account.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.