I am trying to create a database and getting a 262 error.

Question

I am trying to create a database and getting a 262 error.

Krista Bland 0

I am on the admin account of my personal computer, and my instructor in the course I'm taking told me to right click the SSMS 22 icon and run it as an admin, so I did that first, and I'm still getting the same error. It seems to me that I don't have admin access on SSMS itself, and I think I should - what am I doing wrong?

Gemini advised that I check if I have sysadmin access, so I typed select is_srvrolemember ('sysadmin') into my query window, and got a 0.

How do I give myself admin access and why don't I automatically have it, since I own this computer?

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Answer 1

Deepesh Dhake 840

Which account were you signed in as when you installed SQL Server? That one most likely already has sysadmin.

Log in with it and run:

ALTER SERVER ROLE sysadmin ADD MEMBER [COMPUTERNAME\YourUser];
(Get your name with SELECT SUSER_NAME();.)

If no account has sysadmin, use single-user mode: stop the SQL Server service, restart it with -m, connect via sqlcmd as your Windows admin, run the same command, then remove -m and restart. Microsoft documents this fully.

Error 262 is a SQL Server permission

Krista Bland 0 Reputation points

2026-08-26T18:40:09.1766667+00:00

Deepesh, Thanks. You were right - why is that, that the original admin who installed SQL Server for me had sysadmin in SQL Server, but even though I granted myself admin access to my own laptop - logging in under the original admin account - I still had to grant my username sysadmin access as you described?

Obviously, the code line you provided worked wonders.
Erland Sommarskog 136.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-26T18:41:29.8+00:00

In addition to Deepesh's post: When you installed SQL Server you were asked to specify a Windows user what is to be sysadmin.

Being Windows administrator does normally not make you an admin in SQL Server. This may seem awkward when you are on your own machine, but think in a large organisation: Managing Windows and Managing SQL Server is typically done by different people, as different skills are required. Thus, the Windows admin has no business in SQL Server. However, there is this loophole of you start SQL Server in single mode, so sort out situations like yours, or when the DBA has quit the company without arranging for a replacement.
Krista Bland 0 Reputation points

2026-08-26T18:47:04.66+00:00

Erland - thanks for the clarification.