55GB LDF file in C:\Windows\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data? How can I clear it?

It seems I had someone trying to perform brute-force login attempts on my SQL 2005 server. As a result, the log file has grown to about 55 gigs and sits in C:\Windows\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data.

The file itself is called WSS_Content_0b8dae5814114114b874e35ea7ba795b_log.LDF and appears to be currently used.

I'm unclear on how to clear or truncate this LDF file. Thanks!

EDIT: http://i.stack.imgur.com/yfdRG.jpg


Open SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the SQL server, find the relevant database. Right click the DB, Tasks->Shrink->Files. File type: Log, verify the file name. It will display how much is used/free.

If it's all used, you should backup the database so that it's no longer using the log file. If it's mostly empty you can proceed with releasing the unused space (or whatever portion you'd like).

If you don't want to backup the DB, you can change the recovery model (right click DB, Properties, Options tab, Recovery Model) to something simpler, or off all together if you want.


I'm pretty sure that logins/login attempts don't get logged to the SQL transaction log. The cause is most likely due to the fact that the database is using the Full Recovery model and log management is not occurring.