I thought I had the same problem, but later learned that the DB was set to an "initial size" of 40GB even though it only needed 15. This was to: A) prevent the DB from going through an "autogrow" during business hours, and B) prevent the possibility of the DB needing to autogrow and the drive not having enough space available (this would cause a crash).
To see if this is the case, right click the database and select properties. On "select a page" section of the DB properties, select files. In that window the 4th section is initial size. It should agree with what you are seeing when you look at the size of the .mdf in windows explorer (65GB). Warning - make sure you have a good backup AND allow plenty of time for processing. Depending on the power and memory of your server this could take many hours. You might want to try a dry run on a non-production database and/or server. Assumption - we are working with SQL2005 Pro or Enterprise with at least 2 dual-core processors and at least 4GB RAM, and a high speed SCSI array or SAN. Read/Write speed will be a determining factor in how long this will run. Slow older drives could double or triple the amount of time needed. To free up the space (although I don't recommend it), you will follow the directions previously discussed to shrink, with a couple exceptions; right click the DB and select TASK - SHRINK - FILES. In the "available size" it will have a number around 30GB. If you subtract this from the "currently allocated space " you will get the number of GB you need for your DB. Add 1 GB. In the bottom portion of the screen where it says shrink action select the second option: "reorg pages" - and set the "shrink file to" size to the number you came up with in the previous step. I would guess this will take 4-5 hours to shrink, reorg, and release the space. Again, depending on what's under the hood. Good luck! Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: Craig Fidler To: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 3:56 AM Subject: RE: [Axapta-Knowledge-Village] Db Size Jim tried that. From: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Hummer Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 2:32 PM To: axapta-knowledge-village@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Axapta-Knowledge-Village] Db Size Do the function by file and it will work better. Jim ======================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extend your network, join the Microsoft Dynamics AX Knowledge Village at LINKEDIN ! Microsoft Dynamics AX Knowledge Village ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:00:28 +0200 Subject: RE: [Axapta-Knowledge-Village] Db Size Hi, Have tried the shrink function to no avail From: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joydeep Dasgupta Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 11:03 AM To: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Axapta-Knowledge-Village] Db Size Hi Try the "SHRINK" option from the Enterprise Manager toolbar. Just check, you need to give the % i.e how much need to be free. Regards Joydeep Extend your network, join the Microsoft Dynamics AX Knowledge Village at LINKEDIN ! Microsoft Dynamics AX Knowledge Village --- On Tue, 10/21/08, Craig Fidler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: Craig Fidler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Axapta-Knowledge-Village] Db Size To: Axapta-Knowledge-Village@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 8:10 AM Hi All, When looking at my Ax db it is 65gig with 54% free space. How do I free up that free space? Thanks