Is it possible as an Administrator to gain access to a SQL Server 2008 instance without changing any passwords?

Posted by adhocgeek on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by adhocgeek
Published on 2011-01-04T10:39:48Z Indexed on 2011/01/04 10:56 UTC
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sql-server

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active-directory

I have administrative access on our network, but I don't manage the installation of all servers or software. On some of our machines instances of SQL Server 2008 have been installed which I need to be able to access, but since my account hasn't been explicitly granted a login, I can't get into.

Is there a way to get into the database without changing anyone's password (e.g. I could solve this by changing the password of the user who installed the instance, assuming they've set themselves up as admin, and then logging on as them, but I don't want to have to do this).

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