Other Startup Procedures

You can also start SQL Server by:

• Using the Services application in the Control Panel. For information, see your documentation for Windows NT.
• Typing the following from an operating-system prompt:

  net start mssqlserver

• Running the SQL Server application, SQLSERVR.EXE, from an operating-system command prompt using the options described under "Startup Options," later in this chapter.

Note that the first three methods start SQL Server as a service under the Windows NT Service Control Manager, but the third method does not. When SQL Server is started independent of the Service Control Manager, all system messages print in the window used to start SQL Server, and you cannot pause, stop, or continue SQL Server as a service using SQL Enterprise Manager, SQL Service Manager, the Control Panel Services application, or the net commands.

When you start SQL Server from the command line, any command-line options that you enter take precedence over the default command-line options written to the Windows NT Registry by the setup program. In addition, you must shut down SQL Server before logging off from the Windows NT network.

The following example shows how to start SQL Server from the command line using C:\SQL60\DATA\MASTER.DAT as the MASTER database device path and C:\SQL60\LOG\ERRORLOG as the error log path:

sqlservr -c -dc:\sql60\data\master.dat -ec:\sql60\log\errorlog

For more information on the options used in this example, see Startup Options later in this chapter.