Optional: do a fresh restore of master on the revived server.Cross your fingers and start the instance.Rename the master.mdf and mastlog.ldf files as necessary to replace the bad master files with your restored versions.Copy the restored MDF and LDF files from the good server to the dead server.Set it to offline: ALTER DATABASE SET OFFLINE.Not sure this is necessary, but made me feel better that I knew the other server wasn't going to alter anything in the restored master Restore as a different name, of course ( master_please_god_let_this_work), WITH MOVE so you don't overwrite master on your good server.If you can't start the instance in single-user mode, but you have another SQL instance running the exact same release and build, try restoring the last known good master database backup from your dead server to the other instance: I've only found one other mention of this undocumented technique, but I used it successfully this past weekend, so it might be worth a try. Restore master to another instance and copy its files

Second, see the ideas on this question for using the -m'Application Name' parameter to specify the application name.ģ. If another application always grabs the single user connection before you can, first disable the SQL Agent so it isn't starting. If you are able to get the instance started, follow the steps in the MSDN article you linked for restoring the master database, or this detailed walkthrough by Thomas LaRock. Other options allow you to specify the path for the master database, if that is the problem.

Here is a full list of startup options for SQL server, including -m (single user mode) and -f (minimal configuration mode). Try to start the instance in single-user mode Perhaps you will find the problem isn't with the master database at all.Ģ. Don't do all of these (some of them are different techniques to accomplish the same purpose), but are worth considering:īrowse directly to the folder containing the SQL error logs and load the most recent ERRORLOG into notepad to get more detail on why the SQL instance will not start. Here are a few avenues I would investigate.

Sql rebuild master database