How to install the Nortwind sample database in SQL Server Express
One of the things when setting up an demo environment (a fresh install) is to integrate the Northwind sample database on the demo environment. I normally just use a SQL Server Express for demos and I take Northwind to have data to play with, what else. I know there is some discussion around Northwind, but I for myself know that anyone in the audience knows Northwind, so no need to explain 15 valueable minutes on a more complex Schema.
So a blank SQL Server Express install on my machine is taking me to the following steps:
- Download the Northwind sample database from download.microsoft.com
- Run the Setup with the default settings. On my box the installed directory is "c:\SQL Server 2000 Sample Databases"
- Open a Command Prompt
- Change to the script directory, in my case cd "c:\sql server 2000 sample databases"
- Execute the following command:
sqlcmd -S (local)\sqlexpress -E -i instnwnd.sql
(assuming that your SQL Server Express is installed with default settings which is the named instance SQLEXPRESS)
That's it. Northwind is now installed on SQL Server Express.
