In this guide, I will be showing you how to fix “the following error occurred attempting to rename the computer Account already exists”. An Active Directory (AD) domain is basically the same as an Internet domain. It “defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, and control” for a group of computers. Please how to fix “The logon attempt failed for the remote desktop connection“, and how to fix “An Attempt Was Made to Reference a Token That Does Not Exist” in Windows 10.

For how to set up a domain, see the following Active Directory: How to Setup a Domain Controller. Also for how to add a second DC, see the following How to add a second Domain Controller. For how to join a PC to a Domain, see the following Domain Join: How to join a computer to the Domain.

Active Directory Domain names are controlled by the same set of rules and principles, that govern traditional Domain Name Systems (DNS). The domain-based network provides centralized administration for corporate networks from a centralized location and this enables users to access only the resources for which they have been granted access.

Please see Batch rename multiple files on Windows, and how to fix WinRM cannot process the request: The following error occurred while using Kerberos authentication, cannot find the computer,

Reason for the Domain Join Error

For many reasons, you may want to rename your device (VM) and you will be prompted with the following error. This could be a result of the organization’s policies not being adhered to but not limited to this alone.

Fix The following error occurred attempting to rename the computer Account already exists

The solution to fix this issue is to simply remove the device from the Domain and rejoined. Simply trying to rename it will NEVER work. Follow the following steps.

Under Advanced System settings and click on change.

Select Workgroup and enter the name in the Workgroup area

Enter your credentials to confirm

If you have the right credentials to perform this action, it will end up successfully.

After prompting the above dialog box, it will prompt you to restart

Click on Ok. Close all dialog boxes and Click on Restart Now

After the restart, you can now rejoin the device to the domain. Under Advanced System settings, and click on Change settings

Enter the right domain name

Enter your credentials to complete the process. Please see how to create Alarm rules in VMware vSphere, how to fix the error 0xc1420117: The directory could not be completely unmounted, this is usually due to applications that still have files open within the mount directory, and how to perform LACP Configuration on Cisco 3650 Switch.

After successfully joining the domain, you will get a welcome message.

Error occurred while attempting to join the Domain

The same fix above is applicable to this error. Please, proceed and delete the Computer object and recreate a new Computer object in AD. Then, try to join the device back to the domain.

With this, the device or server will be pre-created and placed in your desired OU.

I hope you found this blog post on ‘The following error occurred attempting to rename the computer Account already exists’ helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.