04-23-2025, 06:06 PM
As per my experience, to restore an MDF file, you will need to attach it to SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio. If you have both the MDF and LDF, the process is simple:
- Open SSMS, right-click on Databases, and choose Attach.
- Click Add, select the .mdf file, and SQL Server will search for the associated LDF.
If the LDF is missing, remove the reference to it, and SQL Server will rebuild the log file, and if the MDF file is corrupted or won’t attach, you can try restoring from the backup. If that is not an option, using a recovery tool like Stellar Repair for MS SQL can help extract data from the file as per my experience.
Also, I would like to suggest always work on a copy of the MDF to avoid causing further damage.
- Open SSMS, right-click on Databases, and choose Attach.
- Click Add, select the .mdf file, and SQL Server will search for the associated LDF.
If the LDF is missing, remove the reference to it, and SQL Server will rebuild the log file, and if the MDF file is corrupted or won’t attach, you can try restoring from the backup. If that is not an option, using a recovery tool like Stellar Repair for MS SQL can help extract data from the file as per my experience.
Also, I would like to suggest always work on a copy of the MDF to avoid causing further damage.