5punk

I have all the best questions.

Right, ive got a backup file of a MSSQL db, as a .bak file. All I want to do is look at it, dont need to do anything fancy. I just need to peer at some values, see if I can find what made our apps shit their pants last week.

Anyone know of a way I can do this that doesnt involve me installing MSSQL and restoring the damn thing? My google-fu has failed me.

Have you tried opening it with a text editor? You won't be able to do any queries, obviously, but if you know what you're looking for and the backup is plaintext you might be lucky.

Can you paste the text of the backup file - assuming it's an Export file which is basically the SQL to recreate the database - into a query in Access or something, then run it?