Change Drive Letter

With reference to my previous posting, it seems that there
may be some misunderstanding.
We have installed a SQL Server 2000 database on the J
drive. However, we would like to rename the J drive to E
drive (Asked by the Network Administrator).
We would like to know is it necessary for us to do
anything for the change of drive letter ? Is it necessary
for us to detach and attach the database when he changes
the drive name? OR Just change the file location of the
database from J to E in EM?
Thanks
Renaming drive letters is really ugly. If you just rename the drive
letter then SQL Server probably wont even start because it will be
looking for the master database primary data file on the wrong drive
letter (which will no longer exist). This can be changed in the
registry but there are a myriad of other problems you will encounter.
It may be best just to detach all you user DBs, uninstall SQL Server,
rename the drive letters, reinstall SQL Server and reattach your user
DBs again (now located on the renamed drive letter). If you'd already
done a fair bit of server config you may want to backup your master,
model & msdb (and potentially distribution DB if configured as a
distributor participating in SQL replication) databases before
uninstalling SQL Server and then restore them after reinstalling.
*mike hodgson* |/ database administrator/ | mallesons stephen jaques
*T* +61 (2) 9296 3668 |* F* +61 (2) 9296 3885 |* M* +61 (408) 675 907
*E* mailto:mike.hodgson@.mallesons.nospam.com |* W* http://www.mallesons.com
Jason wrote:

>With reference to my previous posting, it seems that there
>may be some misunderstanding.
>We have installed a SQL Server 2000 database on the J
>drive. However, we would like to rename the J drive to E
>drive (Asked by the Network Administrator).
>We would like to know is it necessary for us to do
>anything for the change of drive letter ? Is it necessary
>for us to detach and attach the database when he changes
>the drive name? OR Just change the file location of the
>database from J to E in EM?
>Thanks
>
>
|||Actually, this is not as dramati as Mike depicted, but backing up before
doing anything else is always a good idea. Check this article for details:
http://www.support.microsoft.com/kb/224071/EN-US/
"Mike Hodgson" wrote:

> Renaming drive letters is really ugly. If you just rename the drive
> letter then SQL Server probably wont even start because it will be
> looking for the master database primary data file on the wrong drive
> letter (which will no longer exist). This can be changed in the
> registry but there are a myriad of other problems you will encounter.
> It may be best just to detach all you user DBs, uninstall SQL Server,
> rename the drive letters, reinstall SQL Server and reattach your user
> DBs again (now located on the renamed drive letter). If you'd already
> done a fair bit of server config you may want to backup your master,
> model & msdb (and potentially distribution DB if configured as a
> distributor participating in SQL replication) databases before
> uninstalling SQL Server and then restore them after reinstalling.
> --
> *mike hodgson* |/ database administrator/ | mallesons stephen jaques
> *T* +61 (2) 9296 3668 |* F* +61 (2) 9296 3885 |* M* +61 (408) 675 907
> *E* mailto:mike.hodgson@.mallesons.nospam.com |* W* http://www.mallesons.com
>
> Jason wrote:
>
|||That KB article is assuming the binaries directory is not moving too. I
may have misread/misunderstood the OP. I was basing the
uninstall/reinstall suggestion on the presumption that the whole SQL
installation was on the disk to be renamed (binaries, data files, log
files, tempdb, the works). I agree that if the binaries are staying
where they are (eg. on C:\Program Files\...) the you can move DBs
without the need to uninstall/reinstall and if the system DBs (master,
msdb & model) don't need to move then the process is virtually painless
with a simple detach/attach process.
*mike hodgson* |/ database administrator/ | mallesons stephen jaques
*T* +61 (2) 9296 3668 |* F* +61 (2) 9296 3885 |* M* +61 (408) 675 907
*E* mailto:mike.hodgson@.mallesons.nospam.com |* W* http://www.mallesons.com
rdjabarov wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
>Actually, this is not as dramati as Mike depicted, but backing up before
>doing anything else is always a good idea. Check this article for details:
>http://www.support.microsoft.com/kb/224071/EN-US/
>"Mike Hodgson" wrote:
>