Sql-server – Remove Database from SQL Management Studio Database List

Lets take your questions one by one :

Is it possible to do the following:Have a copy of the database on the same SQL Server Instance Yes it is possible. You just have to restore the database main-db.bak with move.

e.g. Provided you dont have secondary data files, below will work

-- find logical names

restore filelistonly from disk = 'path\main-db.bak'
go
restore database main_db_copy
from disk = 'path\main-db.bak'
with recovery, stats = 10,
-- below logical data and log file names will be found from the filelistonly mentioned above.
move 'logicalDataFileName' to 'PhysicalPath\main-db_data.mdf',
move 'logicalLogFileName' to 'PhysicalPath\main-db_log.ldf'

Create a new empty database

No need to first create an empty database, as the restore with move will create it.

Restore the database from main-db.bak file and not overrite anything else that may be using the same data MDF and LDF files?

Same as above. As restore with move will not over write unless you use restore with REPLACE explicitly to overwrite.

Or would it be easier to reproduce this database from a live running database copy so that it is not needed to restore if from backup?

Cannot understand what you mean by this ! If you want to create a new database or copy of the current database , you have to take a backup and then use restore database to restore it.

Is it mandatory to rename the LDF and MDF files when the database is restored, can I script to automate the majority of the work?

If you want to overwrite the existing one, then no. If not and you want to create a copy of existing one, then Yes - you have to rename the mdf and ldf files.

You can fully automate the restore process. Some examples can be found here and here.

In my case, I had Visual Studio 2010 Enterprise on my system when I initiated the setup for SQL Server 2012 Standard. After the SQL 2012 got underway, it stopped and prompted for the VS 2010 setup.msi. At that point, I ejected the SQL Server disc and inserted the VS 2010 setup disc. Then I used the dialog presented by the SQL Server 2012 setup program to browse to the root of the VS 2010 DVD, selected the msi there, and opened it. The SQL 2012 setup continued and when I saw that it was again installing SQL components (rather than VS 2010 components), I ejected the VS 2010 disc (which caused the SQL 2012 setup program to display an error that there was no disc in the drive), placed the SQL 2012 setup disc back into the drive, then clicked the Try Again button. At that point, SQL Server 2012 resumed and after some time it completed successfully.