How to convert a MSDE installation to SQL 2005 Express.

As your MSDE (Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine) approaches the 2G limit, you will begin to receive errors in RMS during database updates. Also, MSDE is no longer supported by Microsoft. RMS 2.0 includes an upgrade to SQL 2005 Express. SQL Server 2005 Express expands the database limit to 4G. 

WARNING: Do should NOT attempt this conversion unless you have hit the 2G limit in MSDE and need the extra database space, or you are moving your database server to a Vista/Windows 7 based PC. (MSDE is not supported on Vista/Windows 7.)

To view your current database size, run Store Operations Administrator on your RMS server.
Select File, Connect.
Enter your database name and password and click OK.
Next select Database, Properties.
Wait a few minutes for the results to appear.
The first entry in the Files section is your database size. The second entry is the log size. The combined number must be less than 2G when running MSDE.

Please keep in mind:
- Converting your RMS system to SQL 2005 Express can render your system unusable if not done correctly.
- This operation can take an hour depending on your database size and server specifications.
- There is no speed advantage to upgrading to SQL Express 2005; some operations will be 10-15% slower, especially on old hardware. The key factor is RAM. 2G is the recommended or a database server runing SQL Express 2005 (1G is the minimum).
- An alternative to the 2G limit in MSDE is to archive old data, purge that data, then shrink the database.

If you have hit the 2G limit, upgrading to SQL Server 2005 Express will expand the limit to 4G. If you have hit the 4G limit in 2005 edition, upgrading to SQL 2008 Express R2 will expand the limit to 10G.