Copy a user account

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To copy a user account

Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
In the console tree, click Users.

Where?
- Active Directory Users and Computers/domain node/Users
Or, click the folder that contains the user account.
In the details pane, right-click the user account that you want to copy, and then click Copy.
In First name, type the user's first name.
In Last name, type the user's last name.
Modify Full name to add initials or reverse order of first and last names.
In User logon name, type the user logon name, click the UPN suffix in the drop-down list, and then click Next.

If the user will use a different name to log on to computers running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT, then you can change the user logon name as it appears in User logon name (pre-Windows 2000) to the different name.
In Password and Confirm password, type the user's password, and then select the appropriate password options.

If the user account from which the new user account was copied was disabled, click Account is disabled to enable the new account.

Notes

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.
To open Active Directory Users and Computers, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Active Directory Users and Computers.
After creating the user account, edit the user account properties to enter additional user account information.
Only the most commonly used attributes, such as logon hours, workstation restrictions, and account expiration restrictions are transferred to the copied user by default.
You can modify which default attributes are carried over to a newly copied user or specify additional attributes that will be copied to the new user. To do this, open the Active Directory Schema snap-in, view the desired attribute properties, and select (or clear) the Attribute is copied when duplicating user check box. You can only modify or add attributes that are instances of the user class. If the Active Directory Schema snap-in is not installed, see Related Topics.

Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.