Hello - my computer has crashed so I had to re-install the complete system incl sql server 2005 and tried to restore a mdf database file from a backup. Unfortunately, this is only a copied mdf file from the former working directory and the backed up 'ldf' file seems not to be the proper one. So sql server is not able to load / attach the old mdf file. There is a cryptic error message (when trying to open the mdf file) with a hyper link but when i click it, a microsoft web page opens with the message : there is not help text for this error.
Some weeks ago i also made a backup from the mdf file (using the sql server gui). The resulting backup file was surprisingly saved without an extension, so i do not know what kind of file this is.
Now I created a new empty database with the structure of the original one and tried to laod the backup from the sql server 2006 gui (testing different extensions for it, such as bak, dat, mdf etc), but sql server 2005 cannot restore it (shows only an empty structure resp does not recognize the file - the file's content looks 'binary' when I open it with an text(hex editor, but maybe the reason is that the original mdf file contained a lot of binary data, e.g. pictures).
Sorry, I'm not such an expert with sql server 2005 - i'm using the mdf file with an external document saving application (unfortunately, the guys from this application have also no idea how to restore the mdf file).
Can you help ?
Thanks in advance.
Klaus (Germany)
Technical details:
my system: win xp prof sp2 (.net 1.1 - 3)
2 GB RAM
500 Gb HD
mdf file is about 7 GB
sql server 2005 developer edition ((features like enterprise ed)
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