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Repair Users and Groups features

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Updated: February 13, 2009

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008

Problem   The Windows SBS Console displays an error that says “data cannot be retrieved” when you try to view the list of users in Users and Groups.

Solution   Restart Active Directory Domain Services.

To restart Active Directory Domain Services

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. Click Active Directory Domain Services, and then click Restart.

  4. In the Restart Other Services dialog, click Yes.

If the issue still exists after restarting Active Directory Domain Services, contact Microsoft Product Support.

Problem   You cannot create a new user by using the Add a New User Account Wizard or the Add Multiple User Accounts Wizard.

Solution   Verify that the following services are started:

  • Active Directory Domain Services

Note

If Active Directory Domain Services is not started, you receive an error that says it is not started when you try to add new user accounts.

  • DNS Server

  • File Replication Service

  • Intersite Messaging

  • Kerberos Key Distribution Center

If Active Directory Domain Services is not started, restart it. For instructions about how to restart it, see the procedure titled “To restart Active Directory Domain Services” earlier in this topic. If Active Directory Domain Services does not restart, contact Microsoft Product Support.

If Active Directory Domain Services restarts, create a user account by using the native Active Directory tools.

To create a user account by using the native Active Directory tools

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. In the Active Directory Users and Computers tree, click the name of the server that is running Windows SBS 2008.

  4. Click the icon to create a new user.

  5. In the New Object – User dialog, type the new user’s name and logon information, and then click Next.

  6. Type the new user’s password, select the desired password options, and then click Next.

  7. Verify the information, and then click Finish.

  8. Confirm that the new user account is created by doing the following:

    • In Active Directory Users and Computers, click <domain>.local, where <domain> is the name of the Windows SBS 2008 domain.

      If the user account is successfully created, it appears in Name.

If you can create the user account by using the native Active Directory tools, delete it, and then recreate it by using the Windows SBS Console. If you cannot create the user account by using the native Active Directory tools, contact Microsoft Product Support.

To delete the user account that you created by using the native Active Directory tools

  1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click the user account that you created, and then click Delete.

  2. In the confirmation dialog, click Yes.

To recreate a user account by using the Windows SBS Console

  1. Open the Windows SBS Console.

  2. On the navigation bar, click the Users and Groups tab, and then click Users.

  3. In the task pane, click Add a new user account.

  4. Follow the instructions to complete the wizard.

If you cannot recreate the user account by using the Windows SBS Console, contact Microsoft Product Support.

Problem   You created a user account by using the Add a New User Account Wizard or the Add Multiple User Accounts Wizard, but a mailbox is not created for the account.

Solution   If a mailbox is not needed for the account, you can continue to use it without any modifications. If the user account does need a mailbox, delete the account, verify that Microsoft Exchange Server services are started, and then recreate the user account.

To delete the user account

  1. Open the Windows SBS Console.

  2. On the navigation bar, click the Users and Groups tab, and then click Users.

  3. Click the user account that you want to delete, and then, in the task pane, click Remove user account.

  4. Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes.

To verify that the Exchange Server services are started

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. Verify that the following services are started:

    • Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service

    • Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam Update

    • Microsoft Exchange File Distribution

    • Microsoft Exchange Information Store

    • Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission

    • Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants

    • Microsoft Exchange Replication Service

    • Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer

    • Microsoft Exchange Service Host

    • Microsoft Exchange System Attendant

    • Microsoft Exchange Transport

    • Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search

  4. If any of the services are not started, click them, and then click Restart.

    If any of the services do not restart, contact Microsoft Product Support.

    If any of the services are unavailable, you can create the user account without a mailbox, and then add the mailbox when the services become available by using the Exchange Management Console.

To add the mailbox using the Exchange Management Console

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and then click Exchange Management Console.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. Expand Recipient Configuration, and then click Mailbox.

  4. In Actions, click New Mailbox. The New Mailbox Wizard is displayed.

  5. Click User Mailbox, and then click Next.

  6. Click Existing users, and then click Add.

  7. In the Select User dialog, click the user account that you created without the mailbox, click OK, and then click Next.

  8. In the New Mailbox dialog, leave the alias as the default setting, and then, for Mailbox Database, click Browse, click Mailbox Database, click OK, and then click Next.

  9. Click New, and then click Finish.

To add a new user account

  1. Open the Windows SBS Console.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. On the navigation bar, click the Users and Groups tab, and then click Users.

  4. In the task pane, click Add a new user account.

  5. Follow the instructions to complete the wizard.

Problem   The Windows SBS Console displays an error that says “data cannot be retrieved” when you try to view the list of groups in Users and Groups.

Solution   Restart Active Directory Domain Services. For information about how to do this, see the procedure titled “To restart Active Directory Domain Services” earlier in this topic.

If the issue still exists after restarting Active Directory Domain Services, contact Microsoft Product Support.

Problem   You cannot create a new group by using the Add a New Group Wizard.

Solution   Verify that the following services are started:

  • Active Directory Domain Services

  • DNS Server

  • File Replication Service

  • Intersite Messaging

  • Kerberos Key Distribution Center

If Active Directory Domain Services is not started, restart it. For instructions about how to restart it, see the procedure titled “To restart Active Directory Domain Services” earlier in this topic. If Active Directory Domain Services does not restart, contact Microsoft Product Support.

If Active Directory Domain Services restarts, try to create the group by using Active Directory Users and Computers.

To create a group by using Active Directory Users and Computers

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. In the Active Directory Users and Computers tree, click the name of your server that is running Windows SBS 2008.

  4. Click the icon to create a new group in the current container.

  5. In the New Object – Group dialog, type the name for the new group.

  6. In Group scope, click Universal, and then, for Group type, click the desired type.

  7. Click OK.

If you can create the group by using Active Directory Users and Computers, the problem is related to the Windows SBS Console. If you cannot create the group by using Active Directory Users and Computers, the problem is related to Windows Server 2008. In either case, contact Microsoft Product Support.

Problem   You cannot create a security group that is mail-enabled.

Solution   Verify that Exchange Server services are started. If they are, try to mail-enable the security group by using the Exchange Server native management tools. If the problem continues, contact Microsoft Product Support. For information about how to mail-enable a security group by using the Exchange Server native management tools, see the Microsoft Web site at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=142064.

To verify that Exchange Server services are started

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

  2. On the User Account Control page, click Continue.

  3. Verify that the following services are started:

    • Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service

    • Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam Update

    • Microsoft Exchange File Distribution

    • Microsoft Exchange Information Store

    • Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission

    • Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants

    • Microsoft Exchange Replication Service

    • Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer

    • Microsoft Exchange Service Host

    • Microsoft Exchange System Attendant

    • Microsoft Exchange Transport

    • Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search

  4. If any of the services are not started, click them, and then click Restart.

    If any of the services do not restart, contact Microsoft Product Support.

To read the most recent version of this topic, see the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/FWLink/?LinkID=147050). The most recent version might contain additional information that was not available when Windows SBS 2008 was released.