How to: Change the Service Startup Account for SQL Server (SQL Server Configuration Manager)
New: 5 December 2005
You can change the Microsoft Windows account under which the SQL Server service runs. For more information, see Setting Up Windows Service Accounts.
Important
When you change the service startup account for SQL Server, the service must be restarted for the change to take effect. When the service is restarted, all databases associated with that instance of SQL Server will be unavailable until the service successfully restarts. If you need to change the service startup account, make sure you do so during regularly scheduled maintenance or when the databases can be taken offline without interrupting daily operations.
To change the SQL Server service startup account
On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2005, point to Configuration Tools, and then click SQL Server Configuration Manager.
In SQL Server Configuration Manager, click SQL Server 2005 Services.
In the details pane, right-click the name of the SQL Server instance for which you want to change the service startup account, and then click Properties.
In the SQL Server <instancename> Properties dialog box, click the Log On tab, and select a Log on as account type.
After selecting the new service startup account, click OK.
A message box asks whether you want to restart the SQL Server service.
Click Yes, and then close SQL Server Configuration Manager.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Start an Instance of SQL Server (SQL Server Configuration Manager)
How to: Configure WMI to Show Server Status in SQL Server Tools
Other Resources
Managing Services Using SQL Server Configuration Manager