Chasdf: i just restored out sql.7 DB from backup and it worked great. The only problem we had was that we went from a nt 4.0 server to a Win2K server, so we couldn't just do a full restore. After i rebuilt it to 2k i installed sql.7 and after it was up and running i just imported the data from the tape. I had to manuelly add the same users & groups. What happened to the old data base? The closer you can construct the new sql to the old one the better, table sizes,users,ect. Can you just do a full restore on the DB? Is this a different server all together?