Question : Changing Servers in a domain environment

I have a domain that has one Server 2003 domain controller at a Central office and each of the other seven locations of the environment have an additional server in the same domain. All of these servers are Server 2003 OS. I am replacing several of the secondary servers with Server 2008 R2. I have run adprep and prepared my domain/forest for such an addition. I want to use the same computer name for each of the servers that I am replacing. When replacing the first of these servers I went into Active Directory Users and Computers and deleted the server listed under the Domain Controllers section (choosing the third option "This domain controller is permanently offline and can no longer be demoted using the Active Directory Installation Wizard (DCPROMO)". Then I ran DCPROMO on the new server 2008 R2 computer, giving it the same name as was previously used by the Server 2003 server. I was asked a question that a previous DC existed with this name and did I want to continue the install overwriting the previous setup. I responded Yes and continued my deployment this way. I now realized that I should idealy have demoted the server that I am replacing by using the DCPROMO command on this server and removing it from the domain. As the initial server in the domain at the Central office contains all of the FSMO roles, there is no issue here is this regard.

My question is, will the first server installation be OK given the way I carried out the setup. All seems to be functioning fine from what I can see, but I am not sure if I will encounter any grief as a result of this process. If not, what should I do to rectify this situation. Thank you for your assistance.

Answer : Changing Servers in a domain environment

No, you need to demote the servers properly before promoting with the same name. You demote the DC then delete the DNS records from DNS. Once you have done the above you can then proceed to promote the new server with the same name.

You must demote properly if not you will have issues.