Another cause for SQL Server failing to start can be that a SQL Server configuration option is set too high for the amount of available resources. For example, if the SQL Server open databases option was significantly increased without a corresponding increase in the memory option, SQL Server might not start because it cannot allocate the specified number of database control blocks without exceeding the specified limit of total memory. Reset configuration options to their default values as described in Chapter 3, "Configuring Servers," and in the Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL Reference, or start SQL Server with minimal configuration by using the -f startup option as described in Microsoft SQL Server Setup.