A default installation of SQL puts your data, logs, and backup directories on the C: drive.  I prefer to have my SQL data and logs on different drives, and not on the same drive the OS is on.

Follow these steps to change the default database file locations for your SQL server.

  1. Launch SQL Management Studio and connect to your SQL server.
  2. Right-click the server name and select properties
  3. Select Database Settings
  4. Browse to set the Database default locations for Data, Log, and Backup
  5. Select OK
  6. Restart SQL services
  7. Disconnect and reconnect to the server to refresh your view cache
  8. Go to Database settings and ensure you see your changes