Hello, the second one you gave me works better. 

I can clearly see the table names and the field names and the results show all the cells that DO contain the required string

Unfortunately there are 21893 occurrences... so my only choice is to trash the backup and hopefully find a way to downgrade a SLQ 2014 DB to be 2008 R2 compatible or at the very least 2012 compatible.

Edoardo,

what about this?

DECLARE @sqlCmd nvarchar(max) = ''

DECLARE @badString nvarchar(max) = 'string to search for'
DECLARE @goodString nvarchar(max) = 'string to replace'

CREATE TABLE #TempCommands
(
   [Command] nvarchar(max)
)

SET NOCOUNT ON

;WITH cteTablesAndColumns (tableName, columnName)
AS
(
   SELECT DISTINCT
      t.name AS tableName,
      c.name AS columnName

   FROM
      sys.tables t
      INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON c.object_id = OBJECT_ID(t.name)
      INNER JOIN sys.types ty ON c.system_type_id = ty.system_type_id
   WHERE
      ty.name = 'nvarchar' OR ty.name = 'ntext'
)
INSERT INTO #TempCommands([Command])
SELECT '
   IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM [' + tableName + '] WHERE [' + columnName + '] LIKE ''%' + @badString + '%'')
   BEGIN
      UPDATE [' + tableName + '] SET [' + columnName + '] = REPLACE([' + columnName + '], ''' + @badString + ''', ''' + @goodString + ''') WHERE [' + columnName + '] LIKE ''%' + @badString + '%''
   END
   GO
'
FROM cteTablesAndColumns

DECLARE curCommands CURSOR FOR SELECT [Command] FROM #TempCommands
OPEN curCommands
FETCH NEXT FROM curCommands INTO @sqlCmd
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
   PRINT @sqlCmd
   FETCH NEXT FROM curCommands INTO @sqlCmd
END
CLOSE curCommands
DEALLOCATE curCommands
DROP TABLE #TempCommands

This should generate a SQL script that replaces the "bad string" with a "good string" (which can be empty, if you want). The update command is only executed if the string exists in that column/record.

Happy DNNing!
Michael

Nope... unfortunately it does not seem to change the strings in the DB. 

It seems to do so but the truth is they are still there when I search for them.

Unless I did something wrong. Can I simply run this in a query window or do I have to create a stored procedure and run it?