What you will essentially see in the output is the all kinds of hardware that you got on the DC’s + softwares / apps installed on them.
This helps us identify if the apps will work / will not work if the DC is upgraded. If they are not compatible with Windows 2008 R2 then , YES clean install is the only option and then check with the vendor , if they got a new release for 2k8R2.
Most of the times, hardware on the existing DC’s is too old ( evevn though 64 bit ) for windows 2008 R2. Best possible bet would be get new 64 bit hardware provided you have sufficient budget allocation from the department that owns that particular DC ( obviously ).
This can just go on , but just to clean up the mess that has been on the 2k3 DC for few years , we can just do a clean install of the DC and install 2k8 R2 / promote it a DC and its ready. But what if the DC is also holding DHCP role, IAS role, etc.
Microsoft has provided a wonderful network utility that lets us backup/export DHCP and IAS settings from 2k3 and import to 2k8R2 . ( IAS ~ NAP in 2k8 R2 ). Yes, it is netsh.
After DCPROMO’ing W2k8 R2 DC, import the settings back to DC after installing the NPS and DHCP roles.
Thatz fun aint’it. Keep in mind that the hardware should be compatible with windows 2008 R2 , otherwise be prepared to battle with BLUE SCREEN’s.