Sql server 2012 express - is there a way of resetting this to default factory settings?

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Hello,

I recently installed Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express and I have added some databases which are blank. I would like to delete these custom databases and keep only those that came with the installation (if any).

Does anyone know how to take it back to the original, default settings or which databases within the Database I should delete / keep?

Thanks

What I have tried:

Tried to remember what I did manually.

Posted 2-Aug-18 4:53am

Skipton Corp

Updated 2-Aug-18 6:23am

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CHill60 2-Aug-18 11:01am

Download Sql Server Management Studio (it's free) - you can then easily see everything in your SQL server instance and remove stuff with right-click, delete

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MadMyche · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-02T06:23:00

There is more to it than deleting the DBs that you created; there are all of the server principals (users) as well.

As @CHill60 suggested, SSMS would be the best tool to get and then you can delete away on an as needed basis.

You can retrieve a list of all databases not created by SA (System Administrator) by using

SQL

SELECT [Name] FROM sys.databases where owner_sid <> 0x01

You can delete a DB via code as well

SQL

DROP DATABASE [DatabaseName]

There is a similar query for the server-principals, and a similar DROP command

Experienced SQL Users could right a quick cursor and utilize Execute sp_ExecuteSql to do this, but I would highly recommend against it