I think the only licensing issue you have is whether you are licensed to access the SQL instance on the host server.  I don't think there is a problem with...

No, a backup will NOT shrink your transaction log file.

First, only a transaction log backup will affect the transaction log at all.  A full backup will not make changes to...

I considered posting something about it being a one sided conversation, but then decided it really wasn't, considering all the personalities displayed!

Steve (not Jones)

schleep,

Sorry.  I kinda stepped on you.  I clicked on Reply, then got called away on a production issue, then came back and didn't check to see if anyone else had...

Won't work.  You can change the locations of the files, you can change the (physical) names of the files, but you can't change the structure of the database in a...

MSDE is basically a pared down version of SQL Server.  Any administrative tasks that you perform on SQL Server can be performed on MSDE.  The catch is that MSDE doesn't...

Here's a thought.  Do you have a test server that you can restore your backup(s) to?  It might be interesting to see what happens when you restore that 51.8GB log...

I don't know, then.  A transaction log backup should not be larger than the transaction log was before the backup started.  The only ways I can think of for this...

Is your transaction log on a compressed drive?  If so, I wonder if this could be causing your  abnormalities?  Perhaps SQL is reporting a 7.05GB transaction log, but uncompressed, it...

You're right.  An append will create a new file if it isn't there, and will append if it is there. This just doesn't make sense.  How are you determining that the...

Sounds like you are appending your backup to an existing backup file.  Take a look at the file name of your backup and see if that name already exists on...

For more info about the DIR command, shell out to the command prompt (Start/Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt) on your pc and type HELP DIR .  It'll give you syntax and options.

There is...

DATABASEPROPERTYEX tells you what the property is rather than changing it.

If you decide you want to programmatically change to the simple recovery model,

you can do this by creating a cursor...

Phew!  Glad to know that your jobs are secure!

As far as how often I test backups, not nearly often enough.  Basically, whenever someone...

Wait a week for a backup tape????  If a database goes down and requires a restore, and its down for a week just waiting on the tape, I think somebody...