Delete multiple computer objects from Active Directory

Thursday, July 02, 2009 8:35 AMIJSingh

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Team,

I already spent many hours searching for a script which can pick the list of the computer objects from a text file and delete them from an Active Directory, got multiple scripts on internet to delete a single computer object but cant find one which can pick the list from the text file and delete those at one go and if possible create a log after deleting the computer account from the active directory for verification.

A Vbscript or a bat file will do.

Please help guys as this question is raised by many needy people now.

Thanks

Inderjit
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:19 AMSalvador Manaois IIIModerator

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Hi Inderjit,

The easiest would be to run this from the CLI and pipe the output to a text file (my example below assumes you've named the script del-computers.vbs and you are piping your output to the results.log log file):

cscript del-computers.vbs > results.log

Regards,

Salvador Manaois III
MCITP | Enterprise & Server Administrator
MCSE MCSA MCTS(x5) CIWA C|EH
My Blog: Bytes and Badz
My Shots: View My PhotoStream
- Marked As Answer byIJSingh Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:55 AM
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:30 AMIJSingh

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Thanks Matthew,

Thats perfectly what i need, i am now able to delete 100 objects at one Go....Thanks a lot.

To Salvador,

when i ran the vbscript you pasted above i got an error message saying "Error deleting computername1", i think i need to specify what OU these computers belongs to because i got a big web of OU's in our AD..is that so?

BTW i do changed the file name to computers.txt and the domain information as well.

Thanks for helping me guys

Inderjit
- Marked As Answer byIJSingh Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:55 AM
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:04 AMMatthewBeattie

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Hey

There are multiple ways to do this...you could script it or use the tools microsoft already provides and use these to create a batch file for mass deletion...for example

dsquery computer -samid "desktop1" | dsrm computer

That command should search AD for the distinguished name of the computer account "desktop1" then pass the result to the dsrm utility to delete the computer account....or you could script it if you'd prefer more error checking and logging. Here are a few links...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/resources/qanda/jun07/hey0628.mspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730720(WS.10).aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754624.aspx#BKMK_cmd

You'd have to perform an ldap query for the distinguished Name of each computer account read from a text file, find it then delete it. Try the default tools microsoft provide and if that doesn't do the job for you then post a reply and i'll cut and paste a few functions into a script for you.

Cheers

Matt :)
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:08 AM

Salvador Manaois IIIModerator

Hi Inderjit,

You can try the following:

Const SourceFile = ".\computers.ini"

On Error Resume Next
Set objFSO = Wscript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set oSourceFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(SourceFile, 1)

While oSourceFile.AtEndOfStream <> True
   strComputer = oSourceFile.ReadLine
   set objComputer = GetObject("LDAP://CN=" & strComputer & _
          ",CN=Computers,DC=fabrikam,DC=com")
   objComputer.DeleteObject (0)
   If Err.Number <> 0 Then
     Wscript.Echo "Error deleting " & strComputer & "."
     Err.Clear
   Else
     Wscript.Echo strComputer & " was succesfully deleted."
   End If
Wend

Adding a logging feature to this should be very straightforward. =)

Regards,

Salvador Manaois III
MCITP | Enterprise & Server Administrator
MCSE MCSA MCTS(x5) CIWA C|EH
My Blog: Bytes and Badz
My Shots: View My PhotoStream

Edited bySalvador Manaois IIIModeratorThursday, July 02, 2009 9:17 AMtypo

Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:09 AMIJSingh

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Thanks Matt, I will check out the links and will reply if need help, but if you can please spend some time to create a script as well that will going to help a lot of needy guys, i know for sure there are IT Admin guys are there somewhere who don’t know much in the scripting world (and honestly I am one of them) so for kids like us who know how to run mouse click and press delete only i would request you to prepare one script for us and save our job.

Appreciate your help!

Thanks

Inderjit
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:12 AMIJSingh

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Thanks Salvador,

I don’t know much in the scripting world so would need your help to add the login feature what you are mentioning in your answer, if you can add that as well and help me to get the final version of the script which I can use specifying the path for the text file that will be very helpful.

Thanks
Inderjit
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:19 AMSalvador Manaois IIIModerator

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Hi Inderjit,

The easiest would be to run this from the CLI and pipe the output to a text file (my example below assumes you've named the script del-computers.vbs and you are piping your output to the results.log log file):

cscript del-computers.vbs > results.log

Regards,

Salvador Manaois III
MCITP | Enterprise & Server Administrator
MCSE MCSA MCTS(x5) CIWA C|EH
My Blog: Bytes and Badz
My Shots: View My PhotoStream
- Marked As Answer byIJSingh Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:55 AM
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:23 AMMatthewBeattie

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Hi Inderjit

There is a syntax error in the previous command i posted. The actual command to delete a computer account from active directory (assuming the user running the command has permissions to do so) is:

dsquery computer -samid computerName1$ | dsrm -noprompt

where "computerName" is the sAMAccountName property of the computer account for example "desktop1"...make sure you include the $ sign after the computer name. So you could quite easily just put the computer accounts you want to delete into one big batch file and run that

dsquery computer -samid computerName1$ | dsrm -noprompt
dsquery computer -samid computerName2$ | dsrm -noprompt
dsquery computer -samid computerName3$ | dsrm -noprompt

...etc..etc

Anyway hope that helps

Cheers

Matt :)
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:30 AMIJSingh

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Thanks Matthew,

Thats perfectly what i need, i am now able to delete 100 objects at one Go....Thanks a lot.

To Salvador,

when i ran the vbscript you pasted above i got an error message saying "Error deleting computername1", i think i need to specify what OU these computers belongs to because i got a big web of OU's in our AD..is that so?

BTW i do changed the file name to computers.txt and the domain information as well.

Thanks for helping me guys

Inderjit
- Marked As Answer byIJSingh Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:55 AM
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:47 AM

MatthewBeattie

Hi Inderjit

The reason the script failed is because the domain name and object path is hard coded:

set objComputer = GetObject("LDAP://CN=" & strComputer & ",CN=Computers,DC=fabrikam,DC=com")

This code is only an example of how you "might" modify it meet your requirements because your computer objects may not exists in the default computers container and your domain name probably isn't fabrikam.com!...besides who leaves their computer accounts in the computer container? The reality is you will move computer objects to an OU to apply group policy to them.

So here is a script i wrote which will read a text file from the scripts working directory. For each computer name read from the text file it will perform an ldap query to search for the computer objects adsPath value, bind to the object and delete it. It will log all the results including any error information to the scripts working directory. Here is the code...it may be overcomplicated but it has plenty of comments and error checking! Hope this helps

Cheers

Matt :)

'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Script Name : DeleteComputerAccounts.vbs   
'Author      : Matthew Beattie
'Created     : 02/07/09
'Description : This script reads a text file from the scripts working directory "computernames.txt". For each computername
'            : it attempts to delete the computer account in Active Directory.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Initialization  Section   
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option Explicit   
Const ForReading   = 1   
Const ForWriting   = 2   
Const ForAppending = 8   
Dim objFSO, wshShell, wshNetwork   
Dim scriptBaseName, scriptPath, scriptLogPath
On Error Resume Next  
   Set objFSO      = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")     
   Set wshNetwork  = Wscript.CreateObject("Wscript.Network")   
   Set wshShell    = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")   
   scriptBaseName  = objFSO.GetBaseName(Wscript.ScriptFullName)   
   scriptPath      = objFSO.GetFile(Wscript.ScriptFullName).ParentFolder.Path   
   scriptLogPath   = scriptPath & "\" & scriptBaseName  
   If Err.Number <> 0 Then  
      Wscript.Quit   
   End If
On Error Goto 0
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Main Processing Section   
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Error Resume Next
   PromptScriptStart
   ProcessScript   
   If Err.Number <> 0 Then
      MsgBox   "An Unexpected Error occurred!", vbCritical, scriptBaseName
      LogError "An Unexpected Error occurred!"
   End If
   PromptScriptEnd
On Error Goto 0   
Wscript.Quit   
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : ProcessScript -> Primary Function that controls all other script processing.   
'Parameters : None          ->   
'Return     : None          ->   
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function ProcessScript   
   Dim domainName, ldapQuery, i, j
   Dim computerADsPaths, computerNames, computerName
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   'Get the distinguished Name of the domain to delete the computer accounts from.
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   If Not GetDomainName("ldap", domainName) Then     
      Exit Function     
   End If
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   'Read the "computernames.txt" file in the script's working directory contain a list of computer accounts to delete.
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   If objFSO.FileExists(scriptPath & "\computernames.txt") Then
      If Not GetScriptInput(computerNames, scriptPath & "\computernames.txt") Then
         Exit Function
      End If
   Else
      MsgBox DQ(scriptPath & "\computernames.txt") & " does not exist!", vbCritical, scriptBaseName
      Exit Function
   End If
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   'Delete the computer accounts in Active Directory
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   For i = 0 To UBound(computerNames)
      Do
         '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         'Perform an LDAP query to search for the distinguished Name of the computer.
         '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         ldapQuery = "Select distinguishedName From 'LDAP://" & _
                      domainName & "' Where objectCategory = 'computer' And sAMAccountName = '" & _
                      computerNames(i) & "$" & "'"
         If Not GetADObjectsADsPaths(computerADsPaths, ldapQuery) Then
            Exit Do
         End If
         '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         'The LDAP query may have returned multiple results. Ensure only the correct computer account is deleted.
         '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         For j = 0 To UBound(computerADsPaths)
            On Error Resume Next
               computerName = Replace(Split(computerADsPaths(j), ",")(0), "LDAP://CN=", "")
               If Err.Number <> 0 Then
                  LogError "Spliting String " & DQ(computerADsPaths(j))
                  Exit Do
               End If
               '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               'If the common name property of the computer object equals the computer name then delete the computer account.
               '-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               If StrComp(computerName, computerNames(i), vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
                  If Not DeleteComputerAccount(computerADsPaths(j)) Then
                     Exit Do
                  End If
                  LogMessage "Deleted computer account " & DQ(computerName)
               End If
            On Error Goto 0
         Next
      Loop Until True     
   Next
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
'Name       : GetScriptInput -> Reads a text file to be used as the scripts input into a dictionary object.
'           :                -> Each line of the text file is added to a Dictionary object. Duplicate lines are ignored.
'Parameters : results        -> Input/Output : An array of unique items read from the text file.
'           : fileSpec       -> String containing the folder path and file name of the script input file.
'Return     : GetScriptInput -> Returns false if the user input file is invalid else returns true.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function GetScriptInput(results, fileSpec)
   Dim objTextFile, objDict, line
   GetScriptInput = False
   Set objDict    = NewDictionary
   On Error Resume Next
      Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(fileSpec, ForReading)
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then
         LogError "Opening Text File " & DQ(fileSpec)
         Exit Function
      End If
      Do Until objTextFile.AtEndOfStream
         line = objTextFile.Readline
         If Err.Number <> 0 Then
            LogError "Reading a line from within the file " & DQ(fileSpec)
            Exit Function
         End If
         If Not objDict.Exists(line) Then
            objDict(objDict.Count) = line
         End If
      Loop
   On Error Goto 0
   GetScriptInput = True
   results        = objDict.Items
End Function
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
'Name       : GetDomainName -> Gets the name of the domain based on the input parameter parsed to the function.   
'Parameters : format        -> Defines the naming format the function returns. This can be:   
'           :               -> "dns"       : = microsoft.com   
'           :               -> "ldap"      : = DC=microsoft,DC=com   
'           :               -> "netbios"   : = MICROSOFT   
'           : result        -> Input/outup : The name of the domain in the input specified format.   
'Return     : GetDomainName -> Returns True and the Domain Name in the input format specified otherwise returns False.   
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Function GetDomainName(format, result)   
   Const AdsNameInitTypeGC = 3   
   Const AdsNameTypeNT4    = 3   
   Const AdsNameType1779   = 1   
   GetDomainName           = False  
   Dim domain, netbios   
   Dim objTranslate   
   On Error Resume Next  
      Set objTranslate = CreateObject("NameTranslate")   
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then  
         Exit Function  
      End If  
      domain = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE").Get("DefaultNamingContext")   
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then  
         LogError "Binding to RootDSE object"
         Exit Function  
      End If  
   On Error Goto 0   
   Select Case Lcase(format)   
      Case "ldap"  
         result = domain   
      Case "dns"  
         result = Mid(Replace(domain, ",DC=", "."), 4)   
      Case "netbios"  
         objTranslate.Init AdsNameInitTypeGC, ""  
         objTranslate.Set AdsNameType1779, domain 'GetDomainName("ldap")   
         netbios = Left(objTranslate.Get(AdsNameTypeNT4), Len(objTranslate.Get(AdsNameTypeNT4)) -1)   
         If Err.Number <> 0 Then
            LogError "Translating NetBios Domain Name"
            Exit Function  
         End If  
         result = netbios            
   End Select  
   GetDomainName = True  
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : GetADObjectsADsPaths -> Searches Active Directory for the objects specified in the LDAP query and 
'           :                      -> returns and Array of the object adsPaths.
'Parameters : adsPaths             -> Output: An array. Each element of the array contains the ADsPath of an Object found.
'           : ldapQuery            -> String contain the LDAP query to process.
'Return     : GetADObjectsADsPaths -> Returns True and an Array containing the ADsPaths of the objects returned from the
'           :                      -> LDAP Query otherwise returns False.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function GetADObjectsADsPaths(adsPaths, ldapQuery)
   Dim objectDict, objConnection, objCommand, objRecordSet, objectADsPath
   Const ADsScopeSubtree                  = 2
   GetADObjectsADsPaths                   = False
   Set objectDict                         = NewDictionary
   Set objConnection                      = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
   Set objCommand                         = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")
   objConnection.Provider                 = "ADsDSOOBject"
   objConnection.Open                       "Active Directory Provider"
   objCommand.ActiveConnection            = objConnection
   objCommand.Properties("Page Size")     = 100
   objCommand.Properties("Timeout")       = 30
   objCommand.Properties("Cache Results") = False
   objCommand.Properties("Searchscope")   = ADsScopeSubtree 
   objCommand.CommandText                 = ldapQuery
   On Error Resume Next
      Set objRecordSet = objCommand.Execute
      If objRecordSet.BOF And objRecordSet.EOF Then
         LogError "Executing ldap query " & DQ(ldapQuery)
         Exit Function
      End If
      objRecordSet.MoveFirst
      Do Until objRecordSet.EOF
         objectADsPath = "LDAP://" & Replace(objRecordSet.Fields("distinguishedName").Value, "/", "\/")
         objectDict(objectDict.Count) = objectADsPath
         objRecordSet.MoveNext
      Loop
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then
         LogError "Moving to the next record in the recordset"
         Exit Function
      End If
      objConnection.Close
   On Error Goto 0
   adsPaths             = objectDict.Items
   GetADObjectsADsPaths = True
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : DeleteComputerAccount -> Deletes a computer account object in Active Directory.
'Parameters : computerADsPath       -> String containing the ADsPath of the computer object to delete.
'Return     : DeleteComputerAccount -> Returns True if the computer object was successfully deleted otherwise returns False.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function DeleteComputerAccount(computerADsPath)
   DeleteComputerAccount = False
   Dim objComputer
   On Error Resume Next
      Set objComputer = GetObject(computerADsPath)
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then
         LogError "Binding to computer account object " & DQ(computerADsPath)
         Exit Function
      End If
      objComputer.DeleteObject(0)
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then
         LogError "Deleting Computer object " & DQ(computerADsPath)
         Exit Function
      End If
   On Error Goto 0
   DeleteComputerAccount = True
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : DQ          -> Place double quotes around a string and replace double quotes
'           :             -> within the string with pairs of double quotes.
'Parameters : stringValue -> String value to be double quoted
'Return     : DQ          -> Double quoted string.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function DQ (ByVal stringValue)
   If stringValue <> "" Then
      DQ = """" & Replace (stringValue, """", """""") & """"
   Else
      DQ = """"""
   End If
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : NewDictionary -> Creates a new dictionary object.
'Parameters : None          ->
'Return     : NewDictionary -> Returns a dictionary object.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function NewDictionary
   Dim dict
   Set dict          = CreateObject("scripting.Dictionary")
   dict.CompareMode  = vbTextCompare
   Set NewDictionary = dict
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
'Name       : GetScriptInput -> Reads a text file to be used as the scripts input into a dictionary object.
'           :                -> Each line of the text file is added to a Dictionary object. Duplicate lines are ignored.
'Parameters : results        -> Input/Output : An array of unique items read from the text file.
'           : fileSpec       -> String containing the folder path and file name of the script input file.
'Return     : GetScriptInput -> Returns false if the user input file is invalid else returns true.
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Function GetScriptInput(results, fileSpec)
   Dim objTextFile, objDict, line
   GetScriptInput = False
   Set objDict    = NewDictionary
   On Error Resume Next
      Set objTextFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(fileSpec, ForReading)
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then
         LogError "Opening Text File " & DQ(fileSpec)
         Exit Function
      End If
      Do Until objTextFile.AtEndOfStream
         line = objTextFile.Readline
         If Err.Number <> 0 Then
            LogError "Reading a line from within the file " & DQ(fileSpec)
            Exit Function
         End If
         If Not objDict.Exists(line) Then
            objDict(objDict.Count) = line
         End If
      Loop
   On Error Goto 0
   GetScriptInput = True
   results        = objDict.Items
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name      : LogMessage -> Parses a message to the log file.   
'Parameters: message    -> String containnig the message to include in the log file.
'Return    : None       ->    
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function LogMessage(message)   
   If Not LogToFile(scriptLogPath & ".log", message) Then  
      Exit Function  
   End If  
End Function  
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name      : LogError -> Logs the current information about the error object.
'Parameters: message  -> String containnig the message that relates to the process that caused the error.
'Return    : None     ->    
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function LogError(message)
   Dim errorMessage
   errorMessage = "Error " & Err.Number & " (Hex " & Hex(Err.Number) & ") " & message & ". " & Err.Description
   If Not LogToFile(scriptLogPath & ".err", errorMessage) Then
      Exit Function
   End If
End Function  
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : LogToFile -> Write a message into the user's network log file.   
'Parameters : LogSpec   -> String containing the Folder path, file name and extension of the log file to write to.   
'           : message   -> String containing the Message to be logged.   
'Return     : LogToFile -> Returns True if successful otherwise returns false.   
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function LogToFile(logSpec, message)   
   LogToFile = False  
   On Error Resume Next  
      With objFSO.OpenTextFile(logSpec, ForAppending, True)   
         .WriteLine Date & " " & Time & " " & message
         .Close   
      End With  
      If Err.Number <> 0 Then  
         Exit Function  
      End If  
   On Error Goto 0   
   LogToFile = True  
End Function  
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : PromptScriptStart -> Prompt when script starts.
'Parameters : None
'Return     : None
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function PromptScriptStart
   MsgBox "Now processing the " & DQ(Wscript.ScriptName) & " script.", vbInformation, scriptBaseName
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Name       : PromptScriptEnd -> Prompt when script has completed.
'Parameters : None
'Return     : None
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Function PromptScriptEnd
   MsgBox "The " & DQ(Wscript.ScriptName) & " script has completed successfully.", vbInformation, scriptBaseName
End Function
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proposed As Answer byMatthewBeattie Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:48 AM
Edited byMatthewBeattie Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:53 AM

Thursday, July 02, 2009 11:53 AMIJSingh

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Matt,

Thank you very for spending time for me.

To be honest it’s a rocket science for me but I am sure if I get your assistance I will be able to design my own rocket and will be able to fly as well.

I will test the script and will let you know the results soon on this.

Thanks and Have a good day ahead...

Happy Learning!!!

Cheers…

Inderjit
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Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:10 PMMatthewBeattie

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Hi Inderjit

No worries, happy to help. like i said...it's probably easier from the command prompt

dsquery computer -samid computerName1$ | dsrm -noprompt

another option would be to use Windows PowerShell with the quest command-lets for Active Directory.

http://www.quest.com/powershell/activeroles-server.aspx

Cheers

Matt :)
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