Question

Assume SQL Server 2005 / 2008 with a large number of databases. Is there any way to quickly tell which database, if any, is attached to a particular .mdf file?

We’ve dropped some databases over time and would like to clean up some lingering .mdf’s to clear up space on the server. Currently the only way I know of is to look at the properties of each database, one by one, in Management Studio and make a list of the files they’re attached to. Looking for something a little more efficient than this, if anything exists.

Answer 1

This may help.

declare @files table (
    db_name sysname,
    physical_name nvarchar(260)
)

insert into @files
    exec sp_MSforeachdb 'select "?", physical_name from ?.sys.database_files'

select db_name, physical_name 
    from @files