Changing a SQL Server 2008 installation from instance to default

Question

I've had SQL2005 on my pc, and recentely IT has also installed SQL 2008. Unfortunately, it was installed side-by-side with SQL2005, with the unfortunate side-effect that the SQL 2005 installation is still the Default, while the SQL2008 is installed as an instance.

Without redoing the installation, is there any way of changing SQL2008 to be the default? Deinstalling SQL2005 is also a possible option, but I just want to make sure that I have a default database left after it (otherwise I can't work anymore...)

thanks

Sam

Answer 1

The only way is to re-install. Let IT know which database you need to keep and they should be able to do it for you.

Answer 2

The first time you use the management studio it will default to 2005. Just type in the IP or servername of the new 2008 sql and connect. Then when you close and reopen SSMS it should default to the 2008 sql from now on. You can also use ctrl-alt-g to add the server to the registered server group.

Answer 3

If the reason that you want a default instans is to be able to use a application that needs a connection string without \<instance name> you can use SQL Server Configuration Manager to change the port of the named instance to 1433.

Open Config Manager, select SQL Server Network Configuration, choose your instance, TCP/IP, and set the port to 1433 (after first changing the port of the SQL 2005 instance to something else). First restart the SQL 2005 instance and then the SQL 2008 instance to activate the change.

Note: This will only work if you use tcp/ip as the protocol.