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Two default options are provided for starting MSDE Admin. The first option is to double click the ‘MSDE’ icon (icon show below) that can be found on the Windows Desktop and the second option is to use the Windows Start menu. To use the use start menu click on the following ‘Start | Programs | MSDE Admin’.

Figure 1: Icon for MSDE Admin

When MSDE Admin is started it first always displays the MSDE Admin end user licence agreement. Please read this agreement and then tick the box in the bottom left corner of the screen if you understand and agree to the licence agreement. Once this latter box is ticked you can press the ‘OK’ button and MSDE Admin shall start. If you do not understand or agree with the licence agreement, then you should press the ‘Terminate’ button. When terminate is pressed, MSDE Admin will close down.

When the MSDE Admin has loaded the initial screen like the following is displayed.

Figure 2: Initial Screen

If this is the first time that you have used MSDE Admin it is first necessary to register a server group and then register MSDE Server. Please see ‘Registering a Server Group’ and ‘Registering a MSDE / SQL Server’ for more information.

Registering a Server Group

MSDE Admin allows you to organise your MSDE servers and SQL Servers into groups. For example if you have a couple of SQL Servers that are only used for accounting you may want to set-up a server group called accounting, or perhaps you also have a couple of SQL Servers that are used only for marketing so again you may wish to create a marketing group. For an example of what this would like see below.

Figure 3: Example of Server Groups

To register a Server Group, do the following:

Move the mouse over the node ‘MSDE Admin’; this latter node can be found in the top left of the screen.
Perform a right click on the mouse. This shall bring-up the context menu, as shown below:

Figure 4: Register New Server Group

Using the mouse, select the menu option ‘New Server Group’. After selection a ‘New Server Group’ dialog shall be displayed.
Enter the name of the new server group and then press the ‘OK’ button. The new server group shall then be displayed on the left tree view.

Un-Registering a Server Group

Please note that a server group can only be unregistered if it does not contain any registered SQL Servers. To un-registered a Server Group do the following:

Move the mouse over the server group concerned.
Press the right mouse button and the context menu shall be displayed (see Figure 5 for an example).
Select the option ‘Delete Server Group’.
You shall now be prompted to confirm that you require the server group deleting.

Registering a MSDE / SQL Server

To register a SQL Server, do the following:

Create a new ‘Server Group’ if one is required. See ‘Registering a Server Group’ for instructions on how to do this.
Using the mouse select the server group under which the SQL Server will be registered.
Perform a right click on the mouse. This shall bring-up the context menu, as shown below:

Figure 5: Registering a SQL Server

Using the mouse, select the menu option ‘Register SQL Server’. After selection a ‘Register SQL Server’ dialog shall be displayed, as shown below.

Figure 6: Register SQL Server Dialog

Populate the ‘Register SQL Server’ dialog with the necessary details. If the ‘SQL Server’ drop down box is pressed, the SQL Servers on your network domain shall be displayed so that you browse and select your SQL Server.
Press the ‘OK’ button and then you will be returned to the main form and your new registered SQL Server shall be visible, like below.

Figure 7: SQL Server Registered

Connecting to the MSDE / SQL Server

To connect to the registered MSDE / SQL Server simply press the ‘+’ against the SQL Server in the tree view. A connection is then attempted and if successful the tree view shall expand. An example of this is shown below.

Figure 8: Successful Connection

Should the connection be un-successful see the ‘Editing MSDE / SQL Server Connection Properties’ section below.

Editing MSDE / SQL Server Connection Properties

If you are unable to connect to a MSDE / SQL Server this is possible due to the incorrect username or password being used. To edit these latter details do the following:

In the tree view select the SQL Server concerned.
Right click the mouse and the context menu shown below shall be displayed.

Figure 9: Edit Server Registration Properties

Select the option ‘Edit Server Registration Properties’. The connection properties for the SQL Server shall now be displayed.
You can now edit the ‘Window NT Authentication’ and ‘SQL Server Authentication’ properties.
Press ‘OK’ when you have finished.

Note it is not possible to edit the name of the SQL Server that you are connecting to. Your only option here is to delete the SQL Server registration and create a new SQL Server registration.

Un-Successful Connections

If the attempt to connect to your MSDE / SQL Server was un-successful an error message shall be displayed. If this is the case it is recommended that you first verify that the SQL Server is running. This can be achieved by following these instructions:

Go to the server where SQL Server or MSDE is installed.
Click on the small Microsoft SQL Server icon that sits on the bottom right hand corner of the Task Bar. This shall start the ‘SQL Server Service Manager dialog’, as shown below.

Figure 10: SQL Server Service Manager (Copyright of Microsoft)

Verify that the SQL Server has a status of ‘Running’, as shown above. If the status is not ‘Running’ then press the ‘Start’ button.

If you are still unable to connect it is likely that your connection settings are incorrect. To establish and update your connection settings do the following:

Open the ‘SQL Server Service Manager’ as shown above.
Copy the Server text by positing the cursor in the ‘Server’ edit box and left double click the mouse and then copy the server connection details to the Windows clipboard by pressing (CTRL C). An example of the Server text is "DAVID-QH0Y9N18V\VSdotNET".
Open up MSDE Admin and select the SQL Server concerned.
Right click the mouse and the context menu shown below shall be displayed.

Figure 11: Edit Server Registration Properties

Select the option ‘Unregister Server’. You are then presented with the confirmation dialog for un-registering a SQL Server.
Press the ‘Yes’ button to confirm un-registration of the SQL Server.
Follow the ‘Registering a MSDE / SQL Server’ instructions above, however when populating the ‘SQL Server’ name edit box, paste the contents of the Windows clipboard by pressing CTRL V. This shall ensure that the correct name of the SQL Server is entered.

Hopefully you should now be able to connect. Note the default MSDE password for user ‘sa’ is a empty password.

Viewing MSDE / SQL Server Information

To view MSDE / SQL Server information, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the tree nodes ‘Server Information’ and ‘Version’ and ‘Properties’ are viewable, as shown below:

Figure 12: Server Version Information

Using the mouse, highlight ‘Version’ or ‘Properties’ and the panel on the right shall display the corresponding information.

Viewing MSDE / SQL Server Error Logs

To view the MSDE / SQL Server Error Logs, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the tree node ‘Error Logs’ and its children are viewable, as shown below:

Figure 13: SQL Server Error Logs

· Using the mouse, select the error log that you require to view.

Viewing Database Summary Details

To view the summary details about a database do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the tree nodes ‘Databases’ and the database that you require are viewable.
Position the mouse over the database whose summary details you require to view and press the OK button.

Figure 14: Database Summary Details

Truncating The Transaction Log

To truncation the transaction log, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the database whose transaction log requires truncating is displayed.

Position the mouse over the database and press the right mouse button (see Figure 14).
From the mouse context menu, select ‘Truncate Transaction Log’.
A confirmation dialog is then displayed.

Figure 15: Confirm Truncation of Transaction Log

If ‘Yes’ is selected the transaction log is truncated and then a message is displayed.

Shrinking A Database

To shrink a database, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the required database is displayed.

Position the mouse over the database and press the right mouse button.

Figure 16: Shrinking a Database

From the mouse context menu, select ‘Shrink Database’ and then the required sub-menu..
A confirmation dialog is then displayed.

Figure 17: Confirm Truncation of Transaction Log

If ‘Yes’ is selected the database is shrinked and then a message is displayed.

Performing a Database Checkpoint

To perform a database checkpoint (i.e. write all data pages in memory to disk), do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the required database is displayed.
Position the mouse over the database and press the right mouse button.
From the mouse context menu, click on ‘Checkpoint’.

Figure 18: Database Checkpoint

You are then asked to confirm the checkpoint.

Deleting a Database

To delete a database, do the following:

Expand the tree view, until the required database is displayed.
Position the mouse over the database and press the right mouse button.
From the mouse context menu, click on ‘Delete’.
A conformation box is now displayed. Select ‘Yes’ to delete the database.

Creating A Backup Device

To create a ‘Backup Device’ on your MSDE / SQL Server using ‘MSDE Admin’, do the following:

Using the mouse expand the tree view until the ‘Devices’ nodes is viewable, as shown below.