should or shouldn't I create a computer account first in domain then join it?

should or shouldn't I create a computer account first in domain then join it?
the book said you should create a computer account by hand first
the video said you should create a computer account but just join it

thanks

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Comments

crrussell3

IMO it is best practice to prestage the computer account first. This way the account is in the proper OU to begin with.

dynamik

crrussell3 wrote: »

IMO it is best practice to prestage the computer account first. This way the account is in the proper OU to begin with.

Yep, while it's not a requirement, it's a best practice for the reason mentioned above. It's probably more important in a larger environment where it's easier to lose track of what computer belongs in what OU.

NightShade03

We actually don't pre-stage ever...didn't know about the best practice.

However we do have a vb script that is run nightly which moves computers from the default OU to the correct OU based on naming conventions so I guess it works out the same.

Hyper-Me

Pre-staging is best when you are doing something like a deployment and you want to put things where they go way before hand.

It can be very handy, but its by no means a requirement.

Remember that you can also change the default container/OU that your computers go into by using the REDIRCMP command.

EDIT: I should also point out that the Windows 7 unattend file has a component for OU DN path to place the images machine into when it joins.