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)
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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: