SQL Server 2005 Express 4 GB Limit.
Applies to: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
Error Message.
Restore failed for Server <Instance Name>. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)
Additional information:
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError: CREATE DATABASE or ALTER DATABASE failed because
the resulting cumulative database size would exceed your licensed limit of 4096
per database. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)
Cause.
This error appears when you are trying to restore a database that is greater in
size than 4 GB on a SQL Server 2005 Express instance. 4 GB is the maximun
database size in SQL Server 2005 Express.
Other important limitations of SQL Server 2005 Express are: