I've had a similar issue where in SQL 2000 I could shrink the tempdb with no other action needed. However, after going to SQL 2005 I have had to do a couple more steps: Only do the following steps during scheduled maintenance time and when it is possible for you to do a db server reboot if necessary. First, I do a shrink db to tempdb. Then, I verify the data content has gone down although the file size remains high. I then exit out of SQL Enterprise and stop the SQL services. I then go into the DOS prompt on the DB server and enter sqlservr -m (after going to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\BINN or similar location for the BINN folder) this command will log you into SQL in single user mode - do not close the DOS screen!! When in single user mode you can set the tempdb mdf and ldf file sizes back to a smaller size. When done then go back to the DOS prompt and type Control-C to properly exit single user mode and go ahead and tell it to shut down the SQL server. You will need to restart the SQL services you stopped but should be done at this point.