How to Enable SA Account in SQL Server 2014

backup failed for server (microsoft.sqlserver.smoextended)

Enable the sa Login:

1. Connect to the SQL Server instance using SSMS and go to Security. Expand Security, go to Logins.

2.  You can see the sa account is disabled when you install SQL Server using Windows Authentication mode.



3. Right-click on the sa account and go to Login Properties





By default, the Enforce password policy is checked. (if you don’t want to provide a complex password for the sa account, you can uncheck this option. However, this is not recommended.)

4. Click on the Status page. By default, the sa account will be disabled. Click on the Enabled button to enable the sa account. Click on Ok to close the sa Login Properties.



sa account is enabled and you will be able to login to the SQL instance using the sa account.

Method 2:

Enable SQL Server SA Account with Script

1. Login into SQL Server using Windows Authentication mode and open Management Studio.

2. Click "New Query" to create a query, and type followings:

USE [master]

GO

ALTER LOGIN [sa] WITH PASSWORD='password'

GO

ALTER LOGIN [sa] ENABLE

GO

Method 3:

1. In SQL Server Configuration Manager, in the left pane, select SQL Server Services. In the right-pane, find your instance of SQL Server. (The default instance of SQL Server includes (MSSQLSERVER) after the computer name. Named instances appear in upper case with the same name that they have in Registered Servers.) Right-click the instance of SQL Server, and then click Properties.
2. On the Startup Parameters tab, in the Specify a startup parameter box, type -m and then click Add. (That's a dash then lower case letter m.)
3. Click OK, and after the message to restart, right-click your server name, and then click Restart.
4. After SQL Server has restarted your server will be in single-user mode. Make sure that that SQL Server Agent is not running. If started, it will take your only connection.
5. On the Windows 8 start screen, right-click the icon for Management Studio. At the bottom of the screen, select Run as administrator. (This will pass your administrator credentials to SSMS.)