Error: Cannot alter or drop column 'x' because it is enabled for Full-Text Search

Question

I\'m refactoring an old database and removing columns no longer in use. The DB used to have full text indexing, so, some column are marked for full text.

How ca

Answer 1

I know this is an old post,I got stuck up,where i had to alter a column in table rather than drop.below code worked for me...

EXEC sp_fulltext_column       //Drop your column from full text search here
@tabname =  '<table_name>' , 
@colname =  '<column_name>' , 
@action =  'drop' 

 ALTER TABLE ... //Alter your column here

EXEC sp_fulltext_column       //Add your column back to full text search
@tabname =  '<table_name>' , 
@colname =  '<column_name>' , 
@action =  'add' 

Answer 2

Found the solution myself:

-- You should call the DISABLE command 
ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX ON TableName DISABLE
ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX ON TableName DROP (ColumnName)
ALTER TABLE TableName DROP COLUMN ColumnName