SQL Server – Restore Database into New DB Without Replacing File Structure

If your database is in simple recovery model, then you cannot perform a point-in-time recovery. If the database is not in simple-recovery model and you have log backups right upto the point of failure without a break in the log chain, then you can take a tail-log backup (if LDF is intact and the command succeeds) as pointed out by yrushka and perform a point-in-time recovery of the database without losing any data. If there are no log backups till now, then nothing can be done unfortunately.

Another option is that if you have the database in full/bulk logged-recovery model and no log backups have been taken, then the transaction log can be read using tools (eg. from Idera, LiteSpeed) which will allow you to generate the commands from the transaction log file which can be replayed on the database once it is restored.

Additionally, if you have a full backup and all the log backups till now, then you can restore them till the latest available log backup. Then using log reader tools above, you can generate the rest of the commands from the LDF file and replay them against the database.

When you open that dialog, SQL Server populates that windows with a lot of backups for the history of backups taken for that database. This history is stored in msdb and is not synchronized with the file system, so it is possible that the backup files themselves were deleted or moved already.

Instead of restoring from that history, select to restore from disk and pick the file(s) yourself.

Restoring a Backup

You need to first restore a full backup. That restore has to happen without recovery.

Then, if you have one, restore the latest differential between the full backup and the point in time you want to restore to. this also has to happen without recovery.

Finally, you need to restore all log backups between that differential (or the full if you didn't have one) and the point in time you want to restore to. Those log backups need to be restored in chronological order, also without recovery. The final log backup you can restore with recovery to bring the database back online.

SQL Server does not force a specific extension for any backup type. Most likely you will have .bak for full backups. Differentials might be either .bak or .dif. For log backups I have seen .trn, .log and others. Some people don't use extensions at all for their backups.

But it is probably a safe guess, that your .trn file is a log backup, so you will need additional backup files to restore that database.