Reassigning computer names in Active Directory

[skender]

Hi all,

Is there a software or a way which gives you information about comouter names:
I think a have quite a lot of PC names under Computers on AD, and a lot of them are not active anymore but do not know which ones, I would like to remove those computers under user and computers and reassing those names to new machines.

Many thanks for you help.

[JoeP517]

See Active Directory Scripts.

Joe

[Doc Brown]

Scripts are a pain when you are in a hurry. It also assumes you have some experience writing and modifying VB Scripts. Try ADInfo. (http://www.cjwdev.co.uk/). It's a GUI, and simplifies queries like this. Best of all he has a free addition.

[Paul T]

You don't need to remove old computers or users, AD won't care if they are used or not, but it is worth disabling user accounts that have not been used for more than a few weeks. This usually indicates the person has left the company.
I would look at the last login time for both computers and users. Any computer login over 12 months ago can safely be deleted.

cheers, Paul

[JDB1984]

skender,

I would recommend you check out AD-Info, free version. It does require DotNet 3.5 SP1 though which you could run on a workstation with domain administrator privileges.

I dare say it would have the right scripts within to help you tidy up your AD infrastructure.

http://www.cjwdev.co.uk/Software/ADR...Tool/Info.html

[kflatop]

skender,

If you install the Windows Server Resource kit (free) on your workstation or server there is a tool in there called gpinventory.exe. It works well and is easy to use for running any inquiries on hardware and software in your domain.

[egamma]

What is your password policy? Computers follow the same password policy as users.

what I do is use the modify column to determine which computers haven't been modified in the password expiration timeframe. For example, if your passwords expire after 60 days, you could look at the modified column and delete all computers that have a modified date before 1/1/2011. Adjust based on your password policy.

(to add the modified column in ADUC, click view, add/remove columns, and double-click modified.)

[MikeBinVT]

What is your password policy? Computers follow the same password policy as users.

what I do is use the modify column to determine which computers haven't been modified in the password expiration timeframe. For example, if your passwords expire after 60 days, you could look at the modified column and delete all computers that have a modified date before 1/1/2011. Adjust based on your password policy.

(to add the modified column in ADUC, click view, add/remove columns, and double-click modified.)

Great tip! Never thought of doing that before, thanks!

[Paul T]

delete all computers that have a modified date before 1/1/2011. Adjust based on your password policy.

Snap!

cheers, Paul

[Chris128]

Thanks for suggesting my AD Info program guys For what the OP originally asked for though I think my AD Tidy program is more appropriate as it was designed specifically for this purpose (identifying and tidying up old users and computers). You can tell it to only find accounts that have not logged on for X number of days and then for any accounts found you can export them to CSV or perform one of the following actions: Disable, Move, Delete, Set Expiration Date, Remove From Group, Add To Group, Hide From GAL, Remove From All Groups, Update Description and more.
Its completely free and you can find more info and a download link here: http://cjwdev.co.uk/Software/ADTidy/Info.html

[Doc Brown]

Thanks Chris. For some reason I was under the impression that you were sunsetting AD Tidy in favor of AD Info.

[Chris128]

Thanks Chris. For some reason I was under the impression that you were sunsetting AD Tidy in favor of AD Info.

Nah I was considering it when I first started making AD Info but although they share some similarities they both have very different purposes so it made sense to keep them separate