Question

I have this code:

IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.sysdatabases WHERE name='MyDatabase')
begin
   DROP database MyDatabase
end
Go

CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase

But I see this error after executing this query:

Cannot create file ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.FARASQL\MSSQL\DATA\MyDatabase.mdf’

Answer 1

Most likely your database was offline when you tried to DROP it. In such case SQL Server leaves db files on filesystem. It’s intentional behavior.

According to DROP DATABASE (Transact-SQL)

Dropping a database deletes the database from an instance of SQL
Server and deletes the physical disk files used by the database. If
the database or any one of its files is offline when it is dropped,
the disk files are not deleted. These files can be deleted manually by
using Windows Explorer.