• You can use the 'relocate all files' if there's enough space on the external for all the files. If there isn't, you'll have to edit the paths one by one.

    And this should be temporary. Restore, shrink (or delete data then shrink) and then move the files back to the internal drive. Otherwise when the external gets unplugged, the DB will be unavailable.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

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