Changing the Default Location of SQL 2005 Files

To change the default location of SQL 2005 files, follow the instructions below:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio
2. Right click the server name and choose Properties
3. On the Server Properties page, select Database Settings
4. Under Database default locations type in the path to the respective locations for Data and Logs.

One thing I learned while trying to setup default paths is that SQL expects data files to be found in a child directory named Data. For more information about SQL Server 2005 paths visit File Locations for Default and Named Instances of SQL Server 2005.