Move database from SQL 7 to 2005 / 2008

Question

I have several pretty large databases located in a SQL 7 box. Whats the best way to get them into SQL 2005 or 2008? As far as I know, there were changes to the underlying file structures so I am not sure that a simple detach/attach is advisable. Failing that, are there any good options?

Answer 1

Dell has an excellent white paper that describes this process in detail here:

Best Practices for Upgrading to SQL Server 2005
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/public/white_papers/sql2005_upgrade_wp.pdf

Answer 2

Assuming a new server and not in in-situ upgrade...

Copying Databases from SQL Server 7.0 or Earlier (for SQL Server 2008)

It's not a one stop upgrade (via detach/attach, detach was not in SQL 7 anyway) because of the version gap. You can go from 7 to 2000/2005 first, then to 2008.