Hi, the Drive exists and is accessible but the data folder is no longer there - so no mdf! A copy of the master.mdf exists on the original drive still - I moved the master to a new location (per the log description) sometime before and that seemed to work ok. So - as SQLServer is offline in the cluster I simply copied the db files back to the location and the cluster admin can now bring it online ! phew.

I tried to put the instance into single user mode earlier to move the model db to a new location per Microsoft's tech article instructions, I wanted to detach and attach it. Initially the single user mode didn't appear to work - I put the parameters into Enterprise Manager and I think maybe I got it wrong to start off with. It is in single user mode now as when I try to start up with E.M I can't connect and I get the 'instance is in single user mode' message.

Thanks for making me take proper notice of the error log 🙂