Master.mdf is Compressed But Does not Reside in a Read-only Database or Filegroup. The File Must be Decompressed.
August 6th, 2009 by Andrew Chen
I have not used the developer edition of SQL server on my laptop machine for a long while. When I try to turned on SQL server today I found it couldn’t start. When I check the event log there was an error message related to SQL server service like this.
“The file “C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.2\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf” is compressed but does not reside in a read-only database or file group. The file must be decompressed.”
I remember the free space on my laptop machine was running low and windows ask me to compress the files that were not use frequently. So that was the reason cause this error. I looked at the property of the MDF and LDF files. At the advance tab the check box “compress content to save space” was checked. So I unchecked this box and save. After that SQL server can start without problem


You just saved me the biggest headache!
Thank you!
Cool, it just worked 4 me too…
Cheers

This happened on my SQL 2005 express instance which was installed with Backup Exec 12.5. All of the BE DB’s and Log files were marked for compression. You saved me a ton of time and headaches! Thanks!
Thank , this work
it works!thanks
You are a start … saved my time and head!!!
THANKS!
Work like a champ,
Thanks for your great topic,