Default SA password of SQL Server automatically installed by SharePoint Server 2010 setup

Here are the steps I did to fix this:

Login to the SQL Server using a local account which has administrative privileges account (eg: .\Administrator)
Once you have logged into Windows, open SQL Management Studio
Connect to the SharePoint SQL instance using Windows Authentication
Enable Mixed Mode Authentication (this is not enabled by default for the SharePoint SQL instance)
Set a password for the sa account
Enable the sa account
Restart the SQL instance (required due to change in authentication mode)

Enabling Mixed Mode Authentication:

Right click on the SQL server instance
Click on Properties
Click on Security on the left pane
Click on SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode under the Server authentication section

You can also use the following SQL query to do the same:

EXEC xp_instance_regwrite N'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE', 
    N'Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\MSSQLServer', N'LoginMode', REG_DWORD, 2

[Note: 2 indicates mixed mode authentication. 1 is for windows only authentication]

Setting a password on the sa account:

Under the SQL instance, expand Security and Logins
Right click on sa and click on Properties
Type the new password in the Password and Confirm Password boxes

You can also use the following SQL query to do the same:

ALTER LOGIN [sa] WITH PASSWORD='newpassword', CHECK_POLICY=OFF

[Note: CHECK_POLICY=OFF ensures that Windows password policies of the computer on which SQL Server is running will NOT be enforced on this login]

Enabling the sa account:

Under the SQL instance, expand Security and Logins
Right click on sa and click on Properties
Click on Status on the left pane
Click on Enabled under the Login section

You can also use the following SQL query to do the same:

ALTER LOGIN [sa] ENABLE

thilina R

Posted 2014-03-19T16:56:04.800

Reputation: 2 634

Cool answer. It works like a charm. – hina10531 – 2016-05-17T05:14:33.137

There is only two users for my DB, my admin account on windows and SA account. And guess what, my admin account does not have permission to enable the SA account. Awesome! they essential set me up with a DB I have little permissions over and can not remove. If i try to create another user, what do you know I don't have permission.

God I hate microsoft sometimes :P – RiCHiE – 2018-12-19T04:42:07.743

I think if its 2008 R2, sa is disabled by default. All you need to do is enable the sa account and set a new password. Obviously you will need to use a windows admin account for this. – Steve – 2014-03-19T17:00:35.883

You can also look at : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3781365/how-to-change-sa-password-in-sql-server-2008-express

– Steve – 2014-03-19T17:02:01.857

@Steve Thanks. The sa login appears to be disabled. However, it does not allow me to enable it when logged in with the Windows account that I used while installing SharePoint. – thilina R – 2014-03-19T17:17:24.400

I still think you need to have a computer administrator role for this, if this is not possible then you should get someone who is to enable the sa account. – Steve – 2014-03-19T17:21:25.337

@Steve Thanks. I will check this and let you know! – thilina R – 2014-03-19T18:59:32.650

Default SA password of SQL Server automatically installed by SharePoint Server 2010 setup

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