Unlocking User Accounts and Resetting Passwords
If a user cannot log on to the domain or to a local computer, you night need to unlock the user’s account or reset the user’s password. It is not possible to “lock” a user’s account if you need to ensure a user’s account is not accessed, you must disable the account.
Unlocking User Accounts
A Windows Server 2003 group policy locks out a user account when the user violates the policy, for example, if the user exceeds the limit that a Group Policy allows for bad logon attempts. When a user account is locked out, Windows Server 2003 displays an error message. For further information on using Group Policy, see Chapter 13, “Administering Security with Group Policy.”
To unlock a user’s account
1.Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users And Computers.
2.Expand the appropriate domain, and then click the appropriate OU.
3.In the details pane, select the locked user account that you want to unlock. Click Action.
4.On the Action menu, click Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click the mcitp 2008 Account tab, where the Account Is Locked Out check box is selected. Clear the check box and click OK.
To rename, disable, enable, and delete user accounts
1.Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users And Computers.
2.Expand the appropriate domain, and then click the appropriate OU.
3.In the details pane, select the user account that you want to rename, disable,enable, or delete. Click Action.
4.On the Action menu, click the command for the type of modification that you want to make, such as Rename, Disable Account, Enable Account, or Delete.
If a user account is enabled, the Action menu displays the Disable Account command. If a user account is disabled, the Action menu displays the Enable Account command.
Tip Ensure that the Active Directory Users And Computers console of Serverl is pointed to Serverl. You should see the name serverl.contoso.com in brackets after the Active Directory free CompTIA practice tests Users And Computers console object.