Is it possible to shrink when restoring dbs?

  • Is it possible to restore a db from backup where the db would only fit on the drive once it's shrunk? For example, I have a backup of a 3GB db that is bloated with extra space. When shrunk to a minimum (using EM, nothing fancy) it would be only 300MB. The hard drive has 2GB of free space. Can I restore?

    This question went unanswered from last month - maybe it doesn't seem to have much importance in the age of huge hard drives. Still, it can be a frustrating problem when it happens - I needed to get a copy of a DB (a DB I never worked with before - I would never allow it to get so bloated) on my notebook. It took a couple hours to free enough space for several bloated DBs.

    Data: Easy to spill, hard to clean up!

  • Can you restore to a bigger drive, shrink it, backup and restore to the laptop?

  • There is no way to shrink the database during the restore process. The only solution is to shrink the database first and then back it up and restore it.

    Gary Johnson

    Microsoft Natural Language Group

    DBA, Sr. DB Engineer




    Gary Johnson
    Microsoft Natural Language Group
    DBA, Sr. DB Engineer

    This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and may not reflect that of my employer.

  • I had a feeling that would be the answer - but with all the other wonderful things out there, maybe there would be a way to do it.

    Nowadays I suppose my solution would be to restore to a larger hard drive. I've taken to carrying around a 200GB USB2 hard drive with the notebook, so this would not be a problem anymore.

    Thanks for the replies!

    Data: Easy to spill, hard to clean up!

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