Q. How do I set a domain to interim mode?

A. Typically, when you upgrade a domain from Windows NT Server 4.0 to Windows Server 2003 and the domain is the first one in a new forest, during the upgrade you can set the domain and forest mode to interim. Interim mode has advantages over Windows 2000 Server native mode--for example, interim mode has no 5000-group membership limit and provides Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) and topology enhancements.

If you're creating a new domain, you can set the domain and forest mode to interim by using the ADSI Edit tool. (You can't use the typical Active Directory--AD--management snap-ins to do this.) To set the domain and forest mode to interim for a new domain, follow these steps:

1. Start the ADSI Edit tool (Start, Run, adsiedit.msc).
2. Expand the Configuration partition of the forest root--for example, CN=Configuration,DC=demo,DC=test.
3. Right-click CN=Partitions, then click Properties.
4. Select the msDS-Behavior-Version attribute, then click Edit.
5. In the Value field, which the Figure shows, type 1 and click OK.

When you check the forest and domain level, it will now be displayed as Windows Server 2003 interim. Be aware, though, that after you make this change you can't go back to mixed mode and thus can no longer add Windows 2000 DCs to the domain.

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