Administrator Password

I have to change the administrator's password and I have heard scary story
about unwanted side effects. What is the easiest way to change the
administrator's password without killing the system?

The system consist of a domain environment with multiple servers. I know
some of the applications that are defendant on the administrator but...

HELP!

 

"sihfmis" <sihfmis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6E5B67D6-E07D-4E53-A9E9-1F2DC5393C20@microsoft.com...
>I have to change the administrator's password and I have heard scary story
> about unwanted side effects. What is the easiest way to change the
> administrator's password without killing the system?
>
> The system consist of a domain environment with multiple servers. I know
> some of the applications that are defendant on the administrator but...
>
> HELP!


It won't be scary or kill anything is you do your homework first. Inventory
ALL applications and services that use the account. Probably a good reason
to run these apps and services using an account specifically for this
purpose and not the default administrator account, to avoid issues such as
this when changing the default administrator account.

Once you've completed your inventory, make the change, then go into services
and/or the applications and update the password.


--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging, MCT
Microsoft Certified Trainer
aceman@mvps.RemoveThisPart.org

For urgent issues, you may want to contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please
check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

 

"sihfmis" <sihfmis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6E5B67D6-E07D-4E53-A9E9-1F2DC5393C20@microsoft.com...
>I have to change the administrator's password and I have heard scary story
> about unwanted side effects. What is the easiest way to change the
> administrator's password without killing the system?
>
> The system consist of a domain environment with multiple servers. I know
> some of the applications that are defendant [dependent?] on the
> administrator but...
>
> HELP!

What scary stories?

 

What would be the easiest way to do the inventory?

"Ace Fekay [Microsoft Certified Trainer]" wrote:

> "sihfmis" <sihfmis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6E5B67D6-E07D-4E53-A9E9-1F2DC5393C20@microsoft.com...
> >I have to change the administrator's password and I have heard scary story
> > about unwanted side effects. What is the easiest way to change the
> > administrator's password without killing the system?
> >
> > The system consist of a domain environment with multiple servers. I know
> > some of the applications that are defendant on the administrator but...
> >
> > HELP!
>
>
> It won't be scary or kill anything is you do your homework first. Inventory
> ALL applications and services that use the account. Probably a good reason
> to run these apps and services using an account specifically for this
> purpose and not the default administrator account, to avoid issues such as
> this when changing the default administrator account.
>
> Once you've completed your inventory, make the change, then go into services
> and/or the applications and update the password.
>
>
> --
> Ace
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
> confers no rights.
>
> Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging, MCT
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
> aceman@mvps.RemoveThisPart.org
>
> For urgent issues, you may want to contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please
> check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.
>
>

 

"sihfmis" <sihfmis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A49BFE5D-095F-4909-9E6C-C268D2F26D6E@microsoft.com...
> What would be the easiest way to do the inventory?

Well, I guess since you are asking this question, you do not have your apps
and services documented. If this is the case, it depends. If you have SMS,
you can do an app inventory and determine which apps use the admin account.
Otherwise some manual footwork seems to be in order.

How many servers do you have, third party apps and services (SQL, Symantec
Backup Exec, etc etc).

Ace

 

Ace Fekay [Microsoft Certified Trainer] wrote:
> "sihfmis" <sihfmis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A49BFE5D-095F-4909-9E6C-C268D2F26D6E@microsoft.com...
>> What would be the easiest way to do the inventory?
>
> Well, I guess since you are asking this question, you do not have your
> apps and services documented. If this is the case, it depends. If you
> have SMS, you can do an app inventory and determine which apps use the
> admin account. Otherwise some manual footwork seems to be in order.
>
> How many servers do you have, third party apps and services (SQL,
> Symantec Backup Exec, etc etc).
>
> Ace
>
>

Two places I have inventoried are the services and scheduled tasks. Go
through these (on each server) and see which ones use the id in question
and document it.

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services
http://mypcassistant.blogspot.com/