How to Redirect Default Location of Domain Computer Accounts in Windows Server 2003?

Whenever a computer joins a domain it is by default located in Computers container in Active Directory Users and Computers snap in. In small scale industries this is an ideal configuration and should not be modified. However in large scale industries administrators may want to redirect the default location of domain computer accounts to reduce their overheads and to automatically make computers applicable for group policies. As an administrator you can redirect the default domain computers location by following the steps given below in Windows server 2003 domain controller:

1. Log on to the domain controller with administrator's account.
2. Click on Start button.
3. From the start menu open Run Command box by clicking on Run.
4. In the Run Command box type CMD and press enter key.
5. In the opened command window type %systemroot%system32 and press enter key.
6. On C:WindowsSystem32> prompt type the following commands

redircmp ou=DomainComputers DC=TESTDOMAINDC=COM

and press enter key (if the path contains any spaces for example ou=Domain Computers the entire path should be wrapped within double quotes. An example can be redircmp “ou=Domain Computersdc=TESTDOMAINdc=COM”). If you have typed everything correctly you will get a message saying that the redirection was successful.

More Info:

If you redirect the default computer container only the automatically created computer accounts will be redirected. Computer accounts which the administrators will pre-stage will be left untouched and will remain intact.