How can I perform an authoritative restoration of Active Directory (AD) in Windows Server 2003?

Restart the domain controller (DC) of interest.

When you see the menu to select the OS, press F8.

From the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Directory Services Restore Mode, then press Enter.

Select the Windows 2003 OS, then press Enter.

Use the restore mode password and log on as the administrator.

Click OK to the confirmation that Windows is running in Safe mode.

Start the Windows Backup application (go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click Backup).

Select the Restore option, then select the media where the backup is stored and ensure that the System State is selected.

Click OK to close any warning dialog boxes.

After the AD recovery is complete, click Close to the displayed dialog box and click Yes to restart the computer.

When you see the menu to select the OS, press F8.

From the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Directory Services Restore Mode, then press Enter.

Select the Windows 2003 OS, then press Enter.

Use the restore mode password to log on as the administrator.

Click OK to the confirmation that Windows is running in Safe mode.

Open a command prompt--go to Start, Run and type

cmd

Start the Ntdsutil utility.

To access the authoritative restore mode, type

ntdsutil: authoritative restore

If you want to mark the entire database as authoritative, type

authoritative restore: restore database

If you want to mark only a certain object as authoritative (e.g., an organizational unit--OU), type

authoritative restore: restore subtree 

To exit Ntdsutil, type

quit

Restart the DC as usual.