I have a full backup running at 1am (FullbackupA), then a seperate backup exec does another full backup at 2am (FullbackupB, I have my differential at 8am (DiffBackupC).

When I try to restore to my differential ( restore FullBackupA and then DiffBackupC), it doesnt work because there is another full backup (FullbackupB) taken at 2am, so the chain is broken. I dont have the .bak file for the one taken at 2am, but i do have .ldf, .mdf files. Is there any way I can restore to my differential at 8am, from 2am (FullBackUpB)? since i dont have .bak file? Can i use my .ldf, .mdf file to restore?

Thanks for  help

Answer is no. If you lost your differential base (your 2 am full backup), then the only backup you can restore is the one you took at 1:00 am. Using your mdf, ldf files you can only do an attach not restore.

 You can re-attach the mdf and ldf to another database (Detach them first).  What is this for?  It is your local SQL instance correct?

 Gonez, Yes I can attach the 2am using my mdf and ldf. But I want to restore to 8am differential. But to use differential, i will need to restore from .bak file (2am) which I do not have .Than you mero_desh. Thats what i thought too