5 Ways to Backup your Email

Worried about keeping your email archives online? Need a simple and free tool to backup your emails? If so, then read further. Here you go, five free and different utilities to handle email backups:

MailStore

Windows only email backup utility that lets you backup all your emails from multiple email accounts and programs into one secure and searchable archive. Import and manage messages from Gmail, Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, POP/IMAP accounts and many other mail programs: search through emails, remove duplicate attachments, one-click backup, etc.

Highlights:

• Backup from: Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Microsoft Exchange Server Mailboxes, AVM KEN! Mailboxes, Thunderbird, Mozilla SeaMonkey, Webmailer, any POP3 and IMAP accounts, from Imported Archive files.
• Search all your e-mail within fractions of a second (incl. the contents of attached documents).
• and more

MozBackup

For Thunderbird users only. MozBackup is a dead-simple utility to backup and restore your Thunderbird profiles, emails, installed extensions and settings. Quick and easy. It can do the same for Firefox as well.

GmailUploader

Unlike the above two GmailUploader is a not a backup tool. It’s basically an online service to upload locally stored mailbox files to your Gmail account. If you have switched to Gmail only recently (from Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) and need an easy way to import years old downloaded messages to your Gmail account than GmailUploader is the tool you need. It’s the only free tool you’ll find.

Amic Email Backup

Backup and restore your profile settings, emails, address book, message filters, signatures, blocked senders, etc. It works with 9 popular email clients including MS Outlook, MS Outlook Express, Eudora, Pegasus, The Bat, PocoMail, Netscape Messenger, Opera Mail, and Incredimail. Please note that the backup can be restored only to the same type of email program from which it was created.

Oulook Express Backup

Backup Outlook Express messages, message rules, preferences, blocked senders, signatures, stationery, Windows Address Book, Internet Explorer settings, and your Windows Favorites.

Highlights include:

• Create backups for multiple identities.
• Automattic Backup scheduler.
• Back up your data as a self-executable, standalone EXE file that can be executed on any machine, even if Outlook Express Backup is not installed.
• Access individual emails inside the backup file without the need to restore it first.

Know a better way to backup your emails ? Share it in comments.

5 Easy Ways To Back Up Your Microsoft Outlook Data

This is another of those things that one learns from unwanted experience. If you are in the majority who has experienced a system crash, then you will empathize with the hair tearing fits that accompany the loss of saved mails, contacts and sundry email data.

For those whose preferred email client is Microsoft Outlook 2007 on a standalone machine, here are five ways to backup your Microsoft Outlook data, avoid stress and save your data. Please note that the following applies to data files only and not to toolbar settings, signature files and profile entries.

1. Manually copy your Outlook file

   • The default location for XP is C:/Documents and Settings/%username%/Local Settings/Application Data/Microsoft/Outlook/
   • The default location for Vista isC:/Users/%username%/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Outlook/
Outlook stores all mail information in a single file with an extension “˜.pst‘. A “˜personal storage table’ file stores all account data like mails, contacts, journal, notes and calendar entries.
The PST file can also be accessed by following File ““ Data File Management ““ Select the Data File tab. Select your personal folder(s) and click on Open Folder”¦
After locating the file backing it up to any secure space like a different drive, a CD-ROM or a USB Drive is a simple process of copy-paste.
To restore the data, go to File ““ Open ““ Outlook Data File ““ Browse to the backup location and select the file. In case of an error, right-click and deselect the Read onlyattribute in the PST file’s Properties tab.
2.Relocate your Outlook file
In the same way we keep our other precious files from harm’s way by saving it in a different partition, we can also change the default location of the Outlook PST file. Here’s a walkthrough”¦
1. 1. Close Outlook
   2. Locate the PST file through the default path as mentioned before.
   3. Copy it to another partition.
   (As a precaution rename the PST file in the old location. For instance, change Outlook.pst to Outlook.old. In case something fails, you can return to the old file.)
   4. Restart Outlook ““ when the prompt comes up use the browse button to direct Outlook to the new location.
   5. Update any Wizard rules you might have customized with the new path.

2. Import and Export helps out

   It is a 5-Step process which exports your mail folders to any designated location. Import and Export in Outlook 2007 allows you to export the entire Personal folder or selected folders to another location (or partition).
   1. Click on File ““ Import and Export”¦
   
   2. Choose Export to a file
   
   3. Choose Personal Folder File (.pst)
   
   4. Select the folder to export from ““ e.g. Personal Folder. Check Include Subfolders if you want to include all subfolders (like contacts) within the Personal Folder. You can set up a selective backup through a Filter to export specific messages.
   
   5. Choose a safe location to store the exported file. A press of the Finish button ends the job.
   
To restore the data, similarly follow the wizard starting with File ““ Import and Export”¦- Import from another program or file – Personal Folder File (.pst) ““ browse to backup location and click finish.
Note: The Import and Export way is not sacrosanct because it does not backup user set settings (i.e. the folder design properties) like view options, forms, permissions, rules and alerts or auto-archive settings.

3. The Personal Folders Backup Add-In to the rescue

The earlier steps might send the work-shy among us into a slumber. The help of a Microsoft Outlook Add-in – “˜Personal Folders Backup‘ saves us a few mouse clicks. It simply creates backup copies of the PST files at regular intervals to a designated location.
With the 159KB download installed, browse to File ““ Backup. The Options setting in the tool lets you select the frequency of backups, the files to backup and the location to backup to.

The Personal Folders Backup Add-In is supported by Outlook 2007, 2003 and 2002.

4. Go for a Third Party software

Here at MakeUseOf, we have covered a lot of ground talking about third party software’s. You can find a post on 5 Ways to Keep Your Emails backed Up and one on the Amic Email Backup tool.
Third party software is warranted in situations where you have to deal with multiple clients. In my humble opinion, if you are only looking to backup Microsoft Outlook data, the above enumerated solutions can be effective safety nets.
Have you backed up your Microsoft Outlook 2007 emails yet? Do you think taking these proactive steps now will save you some heartburn later? Let us know”¦

Amic E-Mail Backup – A Good Thing in a Small Package

Good things they say come in small sizes. The Amic free email backup utility proves this idiom to the letter. Behind this 1.3 MB tool is Alexandru Marias, a computer programmer whose belief lies in creating easy to use Windows tools. After using the tool, Alexandru has my vote at least. I am surprised it didn’t make to earlier published5 Ways to Backup Email.

Amic v2.0 simply is an email backup and restore software program. It supports most of the major email clients like MS Outlook, MS Outlook Express, Eudora, Incredimail, Opera Mail, Pegasus, The Bat, PocoMail and Netscape Messenger. It also covers the entire spectrum of content within an email program – email and news messages, address book, account settings, message rules, signatures, stationery, multiple user identities and also doesn’t miss out on the blocked senders list.

There are three core functions which Amic takes care of.

1. Mail backup

2. Mail restore

3. Backup scheduling

Amic gives the user a choice between two interfaces, Standard and Wizard. Both interfaces are simple to understand and use, though my personal mouse click would be for the wizard. The ‘cool quotient’ beats the blandness of the standard mode hands down.

The Mail Backup Process

Hey! We are not talking rocket science here. The process to backup your mail is as simple as 1-2-3. The software also saves you a bit of trouble by detecting all the mail clients on installation. Select the email client, choose the items to backup, specify the location of the file and presto – it’s done.

The Mail Restore Process

Again, simplicity in reverse. Choose the backup file to restore from, choose the items to restore, now choose to directly restore to the mail client or restore to a custom folder (for later import using the mail client), and the job’s done.

The Backup Schedule Process

Select the mail client, identities if any and the items to backup. You can now schedule it according to hours, days, weeks or months. A start date for the backup plus the time completes this simple process.

Please note that for scheduled backups, Amic runs as an ‘EmailAutobackup’ process in the background and it installs a shortcut in the start-up folder. It runs invisibly and in slower computers you might notice a slight performance hit for the minuscule duration of the backup. It took me about 110 seconds to backup a year’s worth of data on my machine.

The Options on view

Few but sufficient would be an immediate assessment.

• Gives a choice of backup to a new file or to overwrite an existing one. The files are easy to understand as they have the date appended, which even my four year old can understand.
• Gives an option to keep a fixed number of the most recent backup files or all of them.
• Significantly, a user can password protect all the backup files on the go. (Backup and secure all those emails from your ‘ex’ maybe!)
• The choice of backups can be broken down to user specified zip sized or CD sized chunks (i.e. if you are an email clutterer, you could request, say, 700 MB chunks that would fit on a CD).
• You can also backup all your IE Bookmarks.
• Supports all versions of Outlook and Outlook Express (i.e. versions 2000, 2002, and 2003). Although the ‘Read Me’ does not mention compatibility with Vista or Outlook 2007, it ran without a hitch.

Small and nice…but with room for improvement.

Huey Lewis & the News sung ‘It ain’t a perfect world…’ and so it isn’t. At the risk of nitpicking here are some of the misses.

1. It glaringly does not support ‘Thunderbird’. With Mozilla going great guns, this miss is top of the heap.
2. It is only compatible with Windows so far among the operating systems.
3. It cannot backup e-mail files from a network drive because it reads the email settings from the local Windows registry.
4. It can restore only to the same type of email client from which it was created originally.
5. An option to specify a default folder path would have been a slight time saver.

For now, let us disregard the five points; for a small adware-free download at 1.3Mb, providing ease of use and a freeware to top it all is worth a distance run.

What email backup programs do you use? Are their features much the same as Amic? Better? Worse? Let us know in the comments.

Site Creation and Configuration in Active Directory

Site Creation and Configuration in Active Directory

The job of configuring and creating sites belongs to the administrators who manage Active Directory, but those who manage the network must be well informed and possibly involved in the design. Whether Active Directory and the network are handled by the same or different groups, they affect each other, and undesired network utilization or failed network connectivity might result. For example, if the Active Directory administrator defines the entire enterprise as a single site, and several Active Directory changes happen each day, replication connections would exist across the enterprise, and replication traffic might be heavy, causing poor network performance for other networking services. On the other side, if the network administrator allows only specific ports to communicate between certain subnets, adding Active Directory might require that additional ports be opened or involve specific network requirements on the servers at each location.

For these examples, the company locations and IP addresses in Table 1 will be used. The company has a hub-and-spoke topology, with each branch office connected to the main office. The main office has an IPv4 and an IPv6 subnet.

Table 1. Common Subnet Mask to Prefix Length
Location	Role	Subnets	WAN Link
India	Main Office	192.168.3.0/24 2001:db8:1234:5678::/64
India	Branch Office	192.168.10.0/24	T3
India	Branch Office	192.168.11.0/24	T1
India	Branch Office	192.168.12.0/24	T1

Creating a Site

When creating a site, Active Directory and network administrators must decide how often AD will replicate between sites. They also must share certain information such as the line speed between the sites and the IP addresses of the servers that will be replicating. Knowing the line speed helps determine the correct cost of a site link. For the network administrator, knowing which IP addresses to expect network traffic from on certain ports is helpful when troubleshooting or monitoring the network. To create a site, the AD administrator needs a site name and subnet and also needs to know which other sites will replicate to the new site.

To create a site, follow these steps:

1.	Launch Server Manager on a domain controller.
2.	Expand the Roles folder.
3.	Expand the Active Directory Domain Services folder.
4.	Expand the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
5.	Right-click the Sites container and choose New Site.

6.	Type in the name of the site and select any existing site link, as shown in Figure 1. Then click OK to create the site.  Figure 1. Creating a new site.
7.	A pop-up window might appear, stating what tasks still need to be completed to properly create a site. Read the information, take notes if necessary, and click OK.

Repeat this for each site that needs to be created. For the sample company, Table 2 lists the sites that will be created.

Table 2. Company ABC Sites
Location	Site Name
India	Jaipur
India	Mumbai
India	Goa
India	Patna

Creating Site Subnets

After you create a site, it should be listed in the console window. To complete the site creation process, follow these steps:

1.	Within the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in, right-click the Subnets container, and choose New Subnet.
2.	Type in the address prefix in the Prefix field—for example, 192.168.3.0/24 for the Jaipur site IPv4 subnet.  Note  The address prefix is the IP address and the mask entered in network prefix notation. This is the format “IP network address/prefix length.” This is very similar to the IP address and subnet mask format. Table 3 lists some common subnet masks and their prefix length values. Table 3. Common Subnet Mask to Prefix Length Subnet Mask Prefix Length 255.0.0.0 8 255.255.0.0 16 255.255.255.0 24
3.	Select the appropriate site from the list at the bottom of the window to associate it with the new subnet.
4.	Click OK to create the new subnet.

Repeat this for each subnet in the locations. Table 4 lists the resulting entries for the sample Company ABC.

Table 4. Company ABC Sites and Subnets
Location	Site Name	Subnets
India	Jaipur	192.168.3.0/24 2001:db8:1234:5678::/64
India	Mumbai	192.168.10.0/24
India	Goa	192.168.11.0/24
India	Patna	192.168.12.0/24

Adding Domain Controllers to Sites

If a new domain controller is added to a forest, it will dynamically join a site with a matching subnet if the site topology is already configured and subnets have been previously defined. However, a preexisting domain controller will not change sites automatically, controller will not change

sites automatically, unlike workstations and member servers. A domain controller has to be moved manually if the topology changes. If an existing domain controller is being moved to a new site or the site topology or replication strategy has changed, you can follow these steps to move a domain controller to a different site:

1.	Launch Server Manager on a domain controller.
2.	Expand the Roles folder.
3.	Expand the Active Directory Domain Services folder.
4.	Expand the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
5.	Expand the Sites folder.
6.	Locate the site that contains the desired domain controller to move. You can browse the site servers by expanding the site and selecting the Servers container of the site, as shown in Figure 2.  Figure 2. Browsing for site servers.
7.	When you locate the desired server, take note of the source site, right-click the server name, and choose Move.
8.	When a window opens listing all the sites in the forest, select the destination site, and click OK to initiate the server move.
9.	When the move is complete, verify that the domain controller has been placed in the correct Servers container of the desired site.

Windows Server Support Interview Questions and Answers (L2) Part 2

How to manually configure FSMO Roles to separate DC’s 

How can I determine who are the current FSMO Roles holders in my domain/forest?

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation), as described in Understanding FSMO Roles in Active Directory. 

The five FSMO roles are:

• Schema master - Forest-wide and one per forest. 

• Domain naming master - Forest-wide and one per forest. 

• RID master - Domain-specific and one for each domain. 

• PDC - PDC Emulator is domain-specific and one for each domain. 

• Infrastructure master - Domain-specific and one for each domain. 

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders (all 5 of them) in the same spot (or actually, on the same DC) as has been configured by the Active Directory installation process. However, there are scenarios where an administrator would want to move one or more of the FSMO roles from the default holder DC to a different DC. The transferring method is described in the Transferring FSMO Roles article, while seizing the roles from a non-operational DC to a different DC is described in the Seizing FSMO Roles article. 

In order to better understand your AD infrastructure and to know the added value that each DC might possess, an AD administrator must have the exact knowledge of which one of the existing DCs is holding a FSMO role, and what role it holds. With that knowledge in hand, the administrator can make better arrangements in case of a scheduled shut-down of any given DC, and better prepare him or herself in case of a non-scheduled cease of operation from one of the DCs.

How to find out which DC is holding which FSMO role? Well, one can accomplish this task by many means. This article will list a few of the available methods.

Method #1: Know the default settings

The FSMO roles were assigned to one or more DCs during the DCPROMO process. The following table summarizes the FSMO default locations:

FSMO Role Number of DCs holding this role Original DC holding the FSMO role
Schema One per forest The first DC in the first domain in the forest (i.e. the Forest Root Domain)
Domain Naming One per forest 
RID One per domain The first DC in a domain (any domain, including the Forest Root Domain, any Tree Root Domain, or any Child Domain)
PDC Emulator One per domain 
Infrastructure One per domain 

Method #2: Use the GUI

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of some of the AD snap-ins. Use this table to see which tool can be used for what FSMO role:

FSMO Role Which snap-in should I use?
Schema Schema snap-in
Domain Naming AD Domains and Trusts snap-in
RID AD Users and Computers snap-in
PDC Emulator 
Infrastructure 

Finding the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Masters via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Domain-Specific RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master FSMO Roles:

1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 
2. Right-click the Active Directory Users and Computers icon again and press Operation Masters. 
3. Select the appropriate tab for the role you wish to view. 
4. When you're done click close. 

Finding the Domain Naming Master via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Domain Naming Master Role:
1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. 
2. Right-click the Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon again and press Operation Masters. 
3. When you're done click close. 

Finding the Schema Master via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Schema Master Role:
1. Register the Schmmgmt.dll library by pressing Start > RUN and typing: 
2. Press OK. You should receive a success confirmation. 
3. From the Run command open an MMC Console by typing MMC. 
4. On the Console menu, press Add/Remove Snap-in. 
5. Press Add. Select Active Directory Schema. 
6. Press Add and press Close. Press OK. 
7. Click the Active Directory Schema icon. After it loads right-click it and press Operation Masters.
8. Press the Close button. 

Method #3: Use the Ntdsutil command

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Ntdsutil command.

Caution: Using the Ntdsutil utility incorrectly may result in partial or complete loss of Active Directory functionality.
1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK. 
2. Type roles, and then press ENTER. 

Note: To see a list of available commands at any of the prompts in the Ntdsutil tool, type ?, and then press ENTER.
3. Type connections, and then press ENTER. 
4. Type connect to server , where is the name of the server you want to use, and then press ENTER. 
5. At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again. 
6. At the FSMO maintenance: prompt, type Select operation target, and then press ENTER again. 

At the select operation target: prompt, type List roles for connected server, and then press ENTER again. 

select operation target: List roles for connected server

Server "server100" knows about 5 roles

Schema - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=C

onfiguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

Domain - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=C

onfiguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

PDC - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Conf

iguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

RID - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Conf

iguration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

Infrastructure - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Si

tes,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

select operation target:

8. Type q 3 times to exit the Ntdsutil prompt. 

Note: You can download THIS nice batch file that will do all this for you (1kb).

Another Note: Microsoft has a nice tool called Dumpfsmos.cmd, found in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit (and can be downloaded here: Download Free Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools). This tool is basically a one-click Ntdsutil script that performs the same operation described above.

Method #4: Use the Netdom command

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Netdom command.

Netdom.exe is a part of the Windows 2000/XP/2003 Support Tools. You must either download it separately (from here Download Free Windows 2000 Resource Kit Tools) or by obtaining the correct Support Tools pack for your operating system. The Support Tools pack can be found in the \Support\Tools folder on your installation CD (or you can Download Windows 2000 SP4 Support Tools, Download Windows XP SP1 Deploy Tools). 

1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type CMD in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. In the Command Prompt window, type netdom query /domain: fsmo (where is the name of YOUR domain). 

Close the CMD window.

Note: You can download THIS nice batch file that will do all this for you (1kb).

Method #5: Use the Replmon tool

The FSMO role holders can be easily found by use of the Netdom command. 

Just like Netdom, Replmon.exe is a part of the Windows 2000/XP/2003 Support Tools. Replmon can be used for a wide verity of tasks, mostly with those that are related with AD replication. But Replmon can also provide valuable information about the AD, about any DC, and also about other objects and settings, such as GPOs and FSMO roles. Install the package before attempting to use the tool.

1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type REPLMON in the Open box, and then click OK. 
2. Right-click Monitored servers and select Add Monitored Server. 
3. In the Add Server to Monitor window, select the Search the Directory for the server to add. Make sure your AD domain name is listed in the drop-down list. 
4. In the site list select your site, expand it, and click to select the server you want to query. Click Finish. 
5. Right-click the server that is now listed in the left-pane, and select Properties. 
6. Click on the FSMO Roles tab and read the results. 
7. Click Ok when you're done. 

How can I forcibly transfer (seize) some or all of the FSMO Roles from one DC to another?

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation), as described in Understanding FSMO Roles in Active Directory. 

The five FSMO roles are:

• Schema master - Forest-wide and one per forest. 
• Domain naming master - Forest-wide and one per forest. 
• RID master - Domain-specific and one for each domain. 
• PDC - PDC Emulator is domain-specific and one for each domain. 
• Infrastructure master - Domain-specific and one for each domain. 

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders (all 5 of them) in the same spot (or actually, on the same DC) as has been configured by the Active Directory installation process. However, there are scenarios where an administrator would want to move one or more of the FSMO roles from the default holder DC to a different DC. 

Moving the FSMO roles while both the original FSMO role holder and the future FSMO role holder are online and operational is called Transferring, and is described in the Transferring FSMO Roles article.

However, when the original FSMO role holder went offline or became non operational for a long period of time, the administrator might consider moving the FSMO role from the original, non-operational holder, to a different DC. The process of moving the FSMO role from a non-operational role holder to a different DC is called Seizing, and is described in this article.

If a DC holding a FSMO role fails, the best thing to do is to try and get the server online again. Since none of the FSMO roles are immediately critical (well, almost none, the loss of the PDC Emulator FSMO role might become a problem unless you fix it in a reasonable amount of time), so it is not a problem to them to be unavailable for hours or even days. 

If a DC becomes unreliable, try to get it back on line, and transfer the FSMO roles to a reliable computer. Administrators should use extreme caution in seizing FSMO roles. This operation, in most cases, should be performed only if the original FSMO role owner will not be brought back into the environment. Only seize a FSMO role if absolutely necessary when the original role holder is not connected to the network.

What will happen if you do not perform the seize in time? This table has the info:

FSMO Role Loss implications

Schema The schema cannot be extended. However, in the short term no one will notice a missing Schema Master unless you plan a schema upgrade during that time.

Domain Naming Unless you are going to run DCPROMO, then you will not miss this FSMO role.

RID Chances are good that the existing DCs will have enough unused RIDs to last some time, unless you're building hundreds of users or computer object per week.

PDC Emulator Will be missed soon. NT 4.0 BDCs will not be able to replicate, there will be no time synchronization in the domain, you will probably not be able to change or troubleshoot group policies and password changes will become a problem.

Infrastructure Group memberships may be incomplete. If you only have one domain, then there will be no impact.

Important: If the RID, Schema, or Domain Naming FSMOs are seized, then the original domain controller must not be activated in the forest again. It is necessary to reinstall Windows if these servers are to be used again. 

The following table summarizes the FSMO seizing restrictions:
FSMO Role Restrictions
Schema Original must be reinstalled
Domain Naming 
RID 
PDC Emulator Can transfer back to original
Infrastructure 

Another consideration before performing the seize operation is the administrator's group membership, as this table lists:
FSMO Role Administrator must be a member of
Schema Schema Admins
Domain Naming Enterprise Admins
RID Domain Admins
PDC Emulator 
Infrastructure 

To seize the FSMO roles by using Ntdsutil, follow these steps:

Caution: Using the Ntdsutil utility incorrectly may result in partial or complete loss of Active Directory functionality.

1. On any domain controller, click Start, click Run, type Ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK. 
2. Type roles, and then press ENTER. 

Note: To see a list of available commands at any of the prompts in the Ntdsutil tool, type ?, and then press ENTER.

3. Type connections, and then press ENTER. 
4. Type connect to server , where is the name of the server you want to use, and then press ENTER. 
5. At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again. 
6. Type seize , where is the role you want to seize. For example, to seize the RID Master role, you would type seize rid master: 

Options are: 

7. You will receive a warning window asking if you want to perform the seize. Click on Yes. 
fsmo maintenance: Seize infrastructure master
Attempting safe transfer of infrastructure FSMO before seizure.
ldap_modify_sW error 0x34(52 (Unavailable).
Ldap extended error message is 000020AF: SvcErr: DSID-03210300, problem 5002 (UNAVAILABLE)
data 1722 
Win32 error returned is 0x20af(The requested FSMO operation failed. The current FSMO holde

r could not be contacted.)
)

Depending on the error code this may indicate a connection,

ldap, or role transfer error.
Transfer of infrastructure FSMO failed, proceeding with seizure ...
Server "server100" knows about 5 roles
Schema - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER200,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=netDomain - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net
PDC - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net
RID - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER200,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net
Infrastructure - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SERVER100,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=dpetri,DC=net

fsmo maintenance:

Note: All five roles need to be in the forest. If the first domain controller is out of the forest then seize all roles. Determine which roles are to be on which remaining domain controllers so that all five roles are not on only one server.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you've seized all the required FSMO roles. 
9. After you seize or transfer the roles, type q, and then press ENTER until you quit the Ntdsutil tool. 

Note: Do not put the Infrastructure Master (IM) role on the same domain controller as the Global Catalog server. If the Infrastructure Master runs on a GC server it will stop updating object information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is because a GC server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest.