Auto-restore query windows

Question

Using SSMS under sql08Express.

In past installations of SSMS, if windows fired a restart and forced open applications to close, the editor would automatically re-open the active query windows when the app restarted. Now I can't find that property setting.

IOW, when Windows installs patches overnight and auto-restarts, all my adhoc query windows are discarded and not restored when I re-open SMSS.

Answer 1

You can edit the following registry key and set the Value of the AutoRecover Enabled to 1(one).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Shell\General\AutoRecover

Also check the value of AutoRecover Always Enabled and bump it to 1 (one) in the same key.

EDIT:

I created a VM to double check this for Express Edition, and the above key doesn't exist until you open SSMS for the first time. The Autosave files are kept in :

\SQL Server Management Studio\Backup Files\