HOW TO: Force Deletion of DFS Configuration Information (224384)

SUMMARY

Windows 2000 servers and domain controllers store DFS configuration information in the registry and the Active Directory. In some cases, it may be useful to return to a steady state. This article describes how to delete DFS configuration data in the registry and Active Directory. WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


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Fault-Tolerant DFS Roots

1. Stop the DFS service by tying net stop dfs at a command prompt.
2. Start Registry Editor and delete the following registry keys:
   1. Delete the Volumes folder and any subfolders under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DfsHost.
   2. Delete all subfolders under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DfsDriver\LocalVolumes, leaving LocalVolumes intact.
3. From the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, click Advanced Features on the View menu. Open the DFS-Configuration container under the System folder. Delete the DFS root in the right pane.
   
   Note that the DFS configuration data can also be removed from the Active Directory using LDAP or Adsiedit.msc. For a computer in the A.COM domain with a fault-tolerant DFS root named DFSFT, the LDAP path would be CN=DFS-Configuration,CN=System,DC=A,DC=COM.
4. Restart the DFS service you stopped in step 1.

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Stand-Alone DFS Roots and Windows 2000 Cluster Servers

1. Stop the DFS service by tying net stop dfs at a command prompt.
2. Start Registry Editor and delete the following registry keys:
   1. Delete the Volumes folder and any subfolders under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DfsHost.
   2. Delete all subfolders under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DfsDriver\LocalVolumes, leaving LocalVolumes intact.
3. Restart the DFS service you stopped in step 1.

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