Reputation: 1357

How to open .mdf and .ldf files?

How to open .mdf and .ldf files ?

These files were created using SQL 2005. I just installed SQL 2008.

I am unable to open this file. What am I am missing here ?

Upvotes: 10

Answers (4)

Reputation: 1266

You probably just want to attach these and you can do that through SSMS.

However, if you really want to “read” these note that there is no default way to do so but there are some workarounds you can try.

Reading .ldf file is only possible using third party tools such as ApexSQL Log.

There is also SQL Log Rescue which is free but only for SQL Server 2000.

Take a look at these thread for more details on this (if this is what you were after)

Upvotes: 5

Reputation: 3632

In SQL Server management studio you can "Attach" an MDF file, which is associated with the LDF (log file).

Alternatively, you can use Visual Studio's Server Explorer to attach to and browse MDF files.

Upvotes: 2

Reputation: 15958

You can't just open those files. But what you can do is attach them to your new version of SQL 2008. Here's the instructions to do that : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190209.aspx

Upvotes: 4

Reputation: 6465

Upvotes: 7