Active Directory

Leaving and rejoining a Windows computer to an Active Directory (AD) domain is a common troubleshooting step, but in modern hybrid environments, it’s a process filled with pitfalls. A single computer often has multiple identities—in local AD, in DNS, and in Azure AD (Entra ID). When these get out of sync, it leads to “ghost” identities, connection issues, and even being locked out of the machine entirely. This guide provides a definitive workflow for diagnosing these identity conflicts using the essential dsregcmd tool, cleaning up stale records, safely rejoining a domain, and recovering if you get locked out. ...

Querying Active Directory (AD) is a fundamental task for any Windows administrator. Whether I need to generate a report, audit user accounts, or automate a task, PowerShell’s Get-ADUser cmdlet is the most powerful and flexible tool for the job. This guide will walk through everything I learned to get started with Get-ADUser, from basic queries to advanced filtering and exporting results to a CSV file. Prerequisites Before I can use Get-ADUser, I need to have the Active Directory module for PowerShell installed. This is part of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). ...