MyITkb.net

The easiest way to change the Operations Role for the Schema master is by using the Schema master MMC.exe plug-in.

In order to use this plug-in you will need to register the schema management plug-in.

This applies to Windows 2003.

Click on Start and then click on Run.

Type in regsvr32 schmmgmt,dll and click OK

A dialog box should come up confirming hte registration of the DLL. ” DLLRegisterServer in schmmgmt.dll succeeded. ”
click on OK

Now you need to setup a MMC console. Click on on Start, run again. Type in MMC.exe and click on OK.

Within MMC.exe click on File – Add/Remove Snap-in

Click on Add and select Active Directory Schema, then click Close.

You should see the new snap-in and click OK.

Now you can change the FSMO role for your domain, or as some may say change the Schema role to a new server.

Right click on Active Directory Schema and select Operations Master

You will see the current Operations Master server and the new server that you are running the snap-in on in the ” To transfer the schema master role to the targeted domain controler below. Click Change. ”

If you want to change the role click on Change.

First you will be prompted with a message box saying, ” Are you sure you want to change the Operations Master?”, click Yes if you want to make the change.

If the primary operations master for the schema is offline you will get a notification box, ” The requested FSMO operation failed. The current FSMO holder could not be contacted. The transfer of the current Operations Master could not be performed. Click OK.

You will have to force this server to be the Schema master.

Please refer to this Microsoft support page, Using Ntdsutil.exe to transfer or seize FSMO roles to a domain controller

(Vista help is a great place to start for self help on troubleshooting PC problems… Below is a snippet from Vista Help on how to scan your hard drive for errors)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Check your hard disk for errors

You can help solve some computer problems and improve the performance of your computer by making sure that your hard disk has no errors.

Double Click to open Computer.

Right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and then click Properties.

Click the Tools tab, and then, under Error-checking, click Check Now. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To automatically repair problems with files and folders that the scan detects, select Automatically fix file system errors. Otherwise, the disk check will simply report problems but not fix them.

To perform a thorough disk check, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. This scan attempts to find and repair physical errors on the hard disk itself, and it can take much longer to complete.

To check for both file errors and physical errors, select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

Click Start.

Depending upon the size of your hard disk, this may take several minutes. For best results, don’t user your computer for any other tasks while it’s checking for errors.

Note
If you select Automatically fix file system errors for a disk that is in use (for example, the partition that contains Windows), you’ll be prompted you to reschedule the disk check for the next time you restart your computer.

Sometimes you  need to run a program that needs all available resources of your PC. For example running a benchmarking program on your PC, or after you do a new Windows install you want to force all of the background processes running in the background to run and complete their task.

To force background tasks to run that are waiting for the Windows PC to become completely idle you can run at a command line the following command.

You may need to be a local administrator in order to run the following command.

Click on Start and select run. Type in cmd (which stands for command) and click OK.

You will see a console Window, which is by default black.

At the prompt type in:
rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

Within aproximately 15 minutes, all Microsoft Windows background process should immediately execute all background idle tasks to completion, including tasks such as the Windows prefetcher, (which is a memory managment applicaiton used by Windows XP to help applicaitons to load faster).