Lesson 5: Moving to Native Mode

Once the planned Windows NT domain controllers have been migrated to Windows 2000 domain controllers, the final stage is to switch to native mode, which should be done as soon as possible to take advantage of such features as universal groups and group nesting. You shouldn't remain in mixed mode unless you have good reasons, such as application compatibility problems. In this lesson, you'll convert the MIGKIT domain to native mode.


After this lesson, you will be able to

  • Understand the issues to be considered before switching to native mode.
  • Convert a mixed-mode Windows 2000 Active Directory configuration into native mode.
  • Implement security policies on objects in Active Directory.

Estimated lesson time: 30 minutes


Converting to native mode is an action that is performed once in the migration. It's a one-way conversion. There's no way to revert to mixed-mode operation without reinstalling the operating system.

Preconversion Procedures

Remember, before converting to native mode, you should at least ensure the following:

  • No remaining Windows NT domain controllers in the network require PDC synchronization of user accounts
  • No applications require PDC replication to Windows NT 4.0 BDCs
  • You have a complete backup of the last domain controller to be migrated, together with a standby BDC that will be used to recover to the previous Windows NT domain should the new Windows 2000 system fail

Practice: Converting a Mixed-Mode Domain to Native Mode

In this practice, you'll convert the migkit.microsoft.com domain to native mode using the Active Directory Domains And Trusts administrative tool. Perform these steps on MIGKIT2.

  1. Log on to MIGKIT2 as Administrator with the password secret.
  2. From the Start menu, click Programs, Administrative Tools, and click Active Directory Domains And Trusts.

    Figure 7.15 shows you the single domain, migkit.microsoft.com.

  3. Right-click migkit.microsoft.com and select Properties.

    click to view at full size.

    Figure 7.15 Managing Active Directory Domains And Trusts

  4. The page shown in Figure 7.16 should appear.

    Figure 7.16 Managing domain properties

  5. To convert to native mode, click the Change Mode button.
  6. Because the move to native mode isn't reversible, you'll be asked whether to confirm your choice. Click Yes to confirm it. Then click OK in the migkit.microsoft.com Properties window that remains on the screen.

    You'll then be shown a message box that warns you of the time that it will take for the changes to propagate. Once the changes have propagated, the migkit.microsoft.com domain will then be running in native mode.



MCSE Training Kit (Exam 70-222. Migrating from Microsoft Windows NT 4. 0 to Microsoft Windows 2000)
MCSE Training Kit (Exam 70-222): Migrating from Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 to Microsoft Windows 2000 (MCSE Training Kits)
ISBN: 0735612390
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 126

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