The log or differential backup cannot be restored because no files are ready to rollforward
Sometimes with restoring backups in SQL Server Database you may end up by getting this error:
Msg 3117, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
The log or differential backup cannot be restored because no files are ready to rollforward.
Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.
You may usually receive this error while restoring a Differential Backup, in a situation when you haven’t restored FULL Backup OR you have restored Full Backup without “WITH NORECOVERY” option.
SOLUTION:
All you need to do is First restore FULL Backup with NORECOVERY option then restore a differential backup with “RECOVERY” option.
A Simple example is given below:
RESTORE DATABASE AdventureWorks FROM DISK = 'D:\AdventureWorks_Full.bak' WITH NORECOVERY RESTORE DATABASE AdventureWorks FROM DISK = 'D:\AdventureWorks_Diff.bak' WITH RECOVERY