Access is denied when attaching a database

sql-server security administration
JMarsch picture JMarsch · Feb 25, 2010 · Viewed 181.6k times · Source

I am using SQL Server 2008 developer edition. I was trying to attach the AdventureWorks2008 database.

When I tried to attach, I received an "access is denied" error. According to the event log, it came from the O/S:

Open failed: Could not open file D:\ProjectData\AdventureWorks\AdventureWorksLT2008_Data.mdf for file number 0. OS error: 5(Access is denied.).

I thought "NTFS problem", but System (and I) have modify access to both files.

I found that I can successfully attach the database if I log in as sa, but my user account won't work.

I am a member of the local administrators group on my machine, and I am in the sysadmins role in SQL Server instance.

Any idea why I had to be logged in as sa?

Answer

MandoMando picture MandoMando · May 22, 2012

Run SQL Server Management Studio as an Administrator. (right click-> run as administrator) that took care of all the weirdness in my case.

SQL SRV EXPRESS 2008 R2. Windows 7

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