SharePoint 2010 - DEV box increase available space by shrinking SQL data

On a 2010 development server space can become short especially with large profile imports and search indexes - one way to assist in gaining some space is to adjust a few settings on SQL Server - please note this should only be done on DEV/Test as can cause index fragmentation and therefore slow performance and also can impact backup recovery.

Follow these steps within SQL  - Firstly amend recovery mode (this reduces log files)

1. Find the databases that are large and taking up the space - in my case this is on my my DEV server.
2. Connect to SQL Object explorer and connect to instance
3. Right click on the database that is large - in my case ProfileDB - click Properties and Options and ensure the Recovery mode is set to "Simple" - see screenshot

The 2nd step is too Shrink databases - this will  recover space by moving data from the end of a file to unoccupied space closer to the front of the file.

1. Use the steps in the following link to carry out this simple task - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189035.aspx -