A Quick Tip To Check If PDC Emulator Is Working

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/Windows2000/AdminTips/ActiveDirectory/AQuickTipTOCheckIfPDCEmulatorIsWorking.html

This article explains how you can tell if PDC Emulator in an Active Directory Domain is working.

PDC Emulator plays an important role in the Active Directory. If your PDC Emulator fails, certain domain functions, security functions, can stop functioning. If anyone of the following is not happening then you should check if your PDC Emulator is working properly:

• Time is not Syncing: PDC is the default source for the client computers to sync the time. If client computers are not syncing the time then you should always check the PDC.
• User accounts are not locked out: PDC Emulator processes the account lockouts immediately for the entire domain.
• Pre-Windows 2000 Computers are unable to change their passwords: It's again PDC Emulator who processes the password changes for previous versions of Windows 2000 computers.
• Windows NT BDCs are not getting updates: PDC Emulator replicates the Active Directory data to Windows NT BDCs.

How to verify PDC Emulator role in the domain?

Run the following command:

dsquery server -hasfsmo pdc

The above command will return the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of the domain controller who is holding the PDC Emulator role.