Question : Has anyone out there demoted a SBS2000 server?

I am slowly upgrading a client's network with as little disruption as possible. I am now at the point where I could really do with demoting the SBS server to a member server. Exchange can be un-installed, DHCP is no longer running on it, there are two other domain masters now, a 2003 server and a 2008 server.

However, it is still the main file server and there is file replication to a server on another site. I have tried adding the 2008 server in as another replica, but it won't let me. So ideally I want to demote the SBS server to just being a member server and carry on.

But I have had problems with this before, and I seem to remember that the SBS server has a program that runs every hour or so, and if it isn't the domain master it restarts. The time before I fixed it by setting the security on the program file that did the checking so that nobody could run it, and that fixed it, but i won't have the time to experiment this time.

So if there is anyone out there who has tried this before? Any suggestions?

Answer : Has anyone out there demoted a SBS2000 server?

I found what I was looking for elsewhere. You can do it, you just have to stop the SBCore process from running.

On the box that I managed to run as a demoted SBS about three years ago I ended up setting the security on the relevant service so that everybody was denied access, but I could not remember which file it was.

On this post (http://p80.blogspot.com/2006/11/removing-small-business-server-domain.html) I found the answer. The full thread is also here (http://forums.speedguide.net/showthread.php?t=173731). There is also a Microsoft KB article that hints at the problem here (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555087).

I am well aware that this is a hack, but if Microsoft can not or will not provide a proper migration method from either one SBS box to a new one, or from SBS to full AD, unless you want to do an in place upgrade on a production box on the old hardware you were intending to retire.