Talkwards

I recently lost the password to the MS SQL Server installed on my local machine. A search on possible solutions returned the usual business B$ about paying for software to do the job. However, browsing a little deeper and asking a colleague gave me the following handy solution:

1. Log in to the machine where the SQL Server is installed via Remote Desktop (not needed in my case, since it was my local machine).
2. Start SQL Server client (Microsoft SQL Managment Studio) and log in to the local machine using Windows Authentication.
3. You’re in.
4. (Optionally) With your admin account you can now change the password to something you’ll remember this time! ;o)

1) You find Remote Desktop on the Start Menu in “All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection”. Most windows servers will have Remote Desktop installed from the start. If, however you are refused a connection because too many people are logged in, see my previous post about how to solve that problem.

Logging in to the local database using Windows authentication in SQL Server Management Studio.

2) To log in on the local database first open SQL Management Studio (All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio), select the name of the local computer in the “Server name”-text field and select “Windows Authentication” in the “Authentication”-text field. Your user name (the one you used to log in via Remote Desktop) will be displayed in the “User name”-text field and this field and the “Password”-text field will both be disabled. Click connect and you should be logged in as an administrator.