How to restore a MS SQL Server 2005 Database?

By techguy | Feb 13, 2009

In an earlier article I had shown how to back up a MS SQL Server 2005 DB. The following article shows how to restore a backed up MS SQL Server 2005 DB.

Click Start > All Programs > MS SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio. The SQL Server Management Studio will now be launched.
Enter your login details and connect to the server.

Select the Databases folder in the left pane, all the databases will now be displayed in the right pane.
Right-click any database from the list and select Tasks > Restore > Database… option.
The Restore Database window will be launched. Select a DB from the To database drop-down to restore the backed-up DB. Incase you want to create a new DB to restore the backed-up DB then type the name of the DB in this box.
All the DB backups that were performed will be displayed in the From Database drop-down. Select a backup from the list to restore.
Incase the backup file is not listed in the From Database drop-down then select the From device option to specify the location of the back-up file. Click this [...] button to specify the location of the backed up file.
Once the backup file is selected the DB backup and the Transaction log backup will be displayed in the Select the backup sets to restore section. Make sure both the back up of the DB and its Transaction log is checked.
Click the Options tab in the left pane. The options will now be displayed.
From the Restore options check the Overwrite the existing database or leave it blank.
Select the RESTORE WITH RECOVERY option from the recovery state.
Click the OK button to begin the restore. Once the restore is complete you will get a confirmation message, click OK.
Close the SQL Server Management Studio.