Error restoring database backup to new database with smo and powershell

I have a very similar script to yours, with a few noteworthy differences:

• Before calling SqlRestore, I make a call to $server.KillAllProcesses($databaseName).
• I have $smoRestore.NoRecovery = $false, instead of $true
• I have $smoRestore.FileNumber = 1, which you don't have at all. I think this corresponds to checking a file from the backup set in the GUI.

I also have similar code for setting the logical/physical filenames, but instead of using $server.Information, I pull the information from the registry (not sure which is "better"). One other difference is that I use $smoRestore.ReadFileList instead of $smoRestore.ReadBackupHeader.

You might also try using a few Write-Host statements on your paths to make sure they look right, if you haven't already.

Hope one of the bulleted tweaks solves your issue. Let me know if you want more info from my script.

A coworker and I both had this problem, and after a bit of troubleshooting we found that closing SQL Server Management Studio did the trick.

Hopefully someone else can skip all the troubleshooting we did and this easy solution will save them a few hours.