mssqlserver.com: SQL Server FAQ

With the help of a ton of content from Neil Pike, I used to maintain the SQL Server FAQ on swynk.com. Since opening up this website, I no longer have access to post to or update that FAQ. Since this has proven to be an incredibly valuable resource for everyone, I am moving that content out here and will maintain the FAQ from this location going forward. I'd like to say many thanks to Neil for all of the time and effort he has invested into maintaining the SQL Server FAQ.

Download Neil's current FAQ archive. updated 6/17/00
Neil's hardware whitepaper

Neil has turned the FAQ into a book which is now available. To order the FAQ in book form from Amazon: SQL Server: Common Problems, Tested Solutions

A note to those who will bookmark this area. Please bookmark this main page only as it will remain static. The remainder of the FAQ may be moved at any time in an effort to maintain a good load time.

All of this data will eventually be condensed and included online as part of either the FAQ or a tutorial. For those who do not want to wait and wish to wade through the data, here are the raw message archives for SQL Server from the last couple of years. There is one predominant source of the messages, but there are a few other mailing lists mixed in as well. These are all .pst files that you can link into Outlook that have been zipped. I will attempt to keep the archives to about 8 - 9 MB when zipped. Updates will occur as time permits with only the last archive being updated.

6.5 archive 1 13.3MB zipped, 67MB unzipped
6.5 archive 2 7 MB zipped, 34.5MB unzipped
6.5 archive 3 2.6MB zipped, 14MB unzipped updated 1/23/00
7.0 archive 1 7.5MB zipped, 35.6MB unzipped
7.0 archive 2 8MB zipped, 38MB unzipped updated 1/23/00
7.0 archive 3 1MB zipped, 4.6MB unzipped updated 1/23/00

SQL Server FAQ -- Content by Neil Pike

Access

Administration

How can I change the owner of an object? (all versions)
How can I add a language to SQL Server so that it knows about my localised date format? (all versions)
How do I audit what has been updated in a SQL Server? (all versions)
Should I amend the SQL Server "Backup Buffer Size"? (all versions)
Should I set "boost priority" to 1 or "SMP" to -1 on SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I change the default location for database files that SQL creates? (Version 7.0)
How do I change the name of SQL Server? (all versions)
Why do my SQL Server identity values get out of synch causing gaps/duplicates etc.? (Version 6.5 and below)
How can I clear SQL Server's procedure cache? (all versions)
How can I compare that the contents of two tables are identical? (all versions)
How can I see how many objects are actually open in SQL Server? (all versions)
Why does the SQL Server Database Maintenance Wizard warn about using it on databases greater than 400Mb in size? (Version 6.5)
What can I do about handling blocking and deadlocks in SQL Server? (all versions)
Can I do an NT defrag on a SQL Server .DAT device/file? Will it cause any problems or do any good? (all versions)
My SQL Server errorlog is filling up with entries. How can I switch or truncate it? (all versions)
My SQL Server errorlog has switched several times and I've lost the evidence of a crash problem. How can I increase the number of errorlogs to prevent this? (all versions)
Why does my transaction-log fill up when I use fast-bcp, select into or the transfer tool?. I thought this didn't log anything. (all versions)
When would I use dbcc gaminit in SQL Server? (Version 6.5 and below)
How can I insert the output of a dbcc command into a SQL Server table? (all versions)
I am missing the whole of MSDB, or just some tables - how do I create them? (all versions)
How can I move a SQL Server device from one disk to another, or rename it? (all versions)
How can I programmatically get the next free device number (vdevno) in SQL 6.5 and below? (Version 6.5 and below)
Why do I see page faults/sec above 0 when I have a dedicated SQL Server machine? (all versions)
What are the *.DMP files that appear in the SQL Server log directory. I've tried printing them with PRINTDMP.EXE but it doesn't work. (all versions)
Why can't I use RCMD.EXE via xp_cmdshell from SQL Server? (all versions)
I have a corrupt log file - can I rebuild it? (Version 6.5)
How can I clear a table and reset the identity back to 0? (all versions)
Why do I have problems revoking permissions on some tables with SQL Server? The command works ok, but the users still have permissions (as shown by sp_helprotect) (all versions)
I've forgotten the sa password for SQL Server - what can I do? (all versions)
I have a query that seems to lock other users out of the system. Especially with tempdb. What is going on? (Version 6.5)
Why can't I shrink my database any smaller than Mb? (all versions)
How do I change the sort-order or character set for a SQL Server database? (all versions)
Why am I being blocked by spid -1? I am not able to kill it and have to restart SQL Server to get around it. (Version 6.5 SP4 and SP5a)
How can I see what line a stored-procedure is on? (Version 6.5)
I have a corrupt SQL Server table that I can't drop. What can I do? (all versions)
Why has my tempdb in SQL Server filled up? (Version 6.5)
I've put tempdb in ram and now I can't restart my SQL Server. (Version 6.5)
Should I use tempdb in ram? (all versions)
How do I remove the tempdb database from master/default devices? (all versions)
I've accidentally set my SQL Server tempdb to single-user mode. I cannot connect to put it back in multi-user mode. What can I do? (all versions)
What does -y mean as a SQL Server start-up option? (all versions)

Backup and Restore

I can't use a tape-drive with SQL Server, but it works ok with NT Backup. Why? (all versions)
Why can't I backup/restore my SQL Server database to a share on another server? (all versions)
How can I programmatically kick off a SQL dump and get the stats back on how far through it is? (Version 7.0)
How can I overwrite expired backups on a disk device to save on space and still keep a rolling days there? (all versions)
If I lose my data file (MDF) in SQL 7 I can't backup the log to recover to a point in time - why not? (all versions)
Why can't I backup/restore my SQL Server database to JAZ/ZIP drive from SQL EM? (all versions)
How can I recover a SQL Server database when all I have left is the original .DAT devices or files? (all versions)
Why am I getting an error "The RAID set for database is missing member number . Backup or restore operation terminating abnormally"? (all versions)
Can I do a SQL backup to a tape drive on another server? (all versions)
Why is a SQL Server restore (LOAD DATABASE) so much slower than a dump database? (all versions)
How can I restore a single table in SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
Is it safe to clear down the msdb..sysbackuphistory table in SQL Server as it is filling up the database? (all versions)
Does SQL Server support tape-loaders? (all versions)

Clustering

Connectivity

What is a net-lib? (all versions)
How do I connect to SQL Server from a non-microsoft machine? E.g. Unix, Macintosh, OS/2 etc. (all versions)
How can I restrict access to my SQL Server so that it only allows certain programs to connect? (all versions)
How do I configure multi-protocol net-lib to force encryption of packets in SQL Server? (all versions)
Why can I connect to SQL Server with the tcp-ip sockets netlib and not named-pipes over IP/multiprotocol? (all versions)
I'm having problems getting more than connections from a 16-bit client to SQL Server. (all versions)
I'm getting an "access denied", "CreateFile" or 1326 message when connecting to SQL Server. (all versions)
How can I restrict access to my SQL Server so that it only allows certain machines to connect? (all versions)
How does SQL Server clear up orphaned connections? (all versions)
How can I connect from Delphi to SQL 7? (all versions)
I've just changed NT domain for my SQL Server/clients - why can't I connect to the server any more? (all versions)
How can I access Exchange stores from SQL Server? (all versions)
Which SQL net-lib is the fastest? (all versions)
How do I connect to SQL Server through a firewall? (all versions)
How can I connect to SQL Server from a Macintosh? (all versions)
How can I configure SQL Server to listen on another net-lib? How can I tell what net-libs are being used? (all versions)
How do I connect to SQL Server from PERL? (all versions)
How do I configure a connection to use tcp-ip sockets with SQL Server? (all versions)
Does SQL 7 support db-lib? What about 16-bit clients - DOS etc.? (Version 7.0)
Why do I get an error "CANNOT GENERATE SSPI CONTEXT"? (Version 7.0)
Why does the tcp-ip net-lib not appear as an option in SQL Setup? (Version 7.0)

Development

How do I...

How do I get ADSI to work with SQL Server? (Version 7.0)
How can I do a crosstab function using standard TSQL in SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I issue a SQL command that uses a variable for the tablename, columns etc. How can I return values from some dynamic SQL? (all versions)
How can I tell if my code is ANSI-92 compliant? (Version 7.0)
How can I pass an array of values to a SQL Server stored-procedure? (all versions)
How can I calculate someone's age in SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I add/amend/delete columns in SQL Server? E.g. Int to Char, char(5) to char(15), change NULL to NOT NULL etc. (all versions)
How can I do a case-sensitive comparison on a SQL Server installed with a case-insensitive sort-order? (all versions)
How can I check with SQL whether a table is already there or not? (all versions)
How can I tell if a column for a table already exists? (all versions)
How can I delete duplicate rows from a SQL Server table? (all versions)
How do I drop the index related to a primary key? DROP INDEX doesn't work. (all versions)
How can I find duplicate rows in SQL Server? (all versions)
How do I store/retrieve text and image data in SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I turn an IP address held as a string to the four separate integers? (all versions)
How can I ORDER BY different fields based on a variable in SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I pad an integer value in SQL Server with zeroes? (all versions)
How can I convert a string to "proper" case in SQL Server? i.e. Turn "andrew" into "Andrew" (all versions)
How do I configure the client query time-out for SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I embed single quotes in a string and get SQL Server to store it correctly? (all versions)
How can I get random numbers from SQL Server? Using rand() I always get the same sequence. (all versions)
How can I select random rows from a SQL Server table? (all versions)
How can I replace/change/delete characters in a SQL Server column? (all versions)
How can I restrict the number of rows returned to my query in SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I get a count for all tables in a database? (all versions)
How can I suppress the column headings that always come out in ISQL output on SQL Server? (all versions)
How do I view the contents of a TIMESTAMP field in SQL Server? (all versions)

General

Are there any examples of heterogeneous data queries from SQL 7 to other sources? (Version 7.0)
Why does my SQL Server code sometimes respond slower than normal when I haven't changed anything? (all versions)
What is the limit on the number of tables in a query in SQL Server? (Version 6.5 and up)
In SQL 6.5 why does passing a 256 byte character string to an SP expecting a TEXT field produce a NULL when checked? (Version 6.5 and up)
Where are the cascade update/delete functions in SQL Server? (all versions)
Should I use char or varchar? What are the advantages? (all versions)
Why do I get NULL when adding/concatenating a NULL value with SQL 7? I didn't with 6.5. (Version 7.0)
Why can't I drop a SQL Server table? (all versions)
Where can I get Embedded SQL for SQL Server? (all versions)
Why do I get a "variable is not declared" inside my EXEC statement? (all versions)
What is the equivalent of the IIF command in SQL Server? (all versions)
Why does a SELECT ... WHERE col=NULL not work in SQL Server? (all versions)
Does SQL Server have an "ON ERROR RESUME" type function in TSQL to match the VB facility? (all versions)
Can I use an ORDER BY in a view in SQL Server? (all versions)
What is the difference between "old" style SQL Server *= joins and the new ANSI LEFT/RIGHT outer joins? (all versions)
When I change a table definition it often invalidates any views on that table. How can I fix this without re-creating the view? (all versions)
What is the difference between a CHECK constraint and a RULE? (all versions)
I'm getting an error message - "Cannot Load DLL 'SDI' Reason 126 ( The specified Module Cannot be found)" when doing a stored-procedure debug on SQL Server. Or breakpoints just don't fire. (Version 6.5 and above)
What does sp_sdidebug do? (Version 6.5 and above)
What's happened to SQL_PRESERVE_CURSORS in SQL 7.0? (Version 7.0)
Why do I get "SQL Server has run out of locks" error message with SQL 7 - I thought it dynamically allocated them? (Version 7.0)
Why is SQL Server 7 slower than 6.5 at running some of my sp's? (Version 7.0)
I'm running a stored-proc from VB. Why does it return control before the SP has finished? (all versions)
When might I want to use a surrogate key? (all versions)
Why is the week number returned by SQL Server wrong? (all versions)
Why can't I do an Xcopy via xp_cmdshell or a scheduled job? (all versions)

DTS

English Query

Enterprise Manager

Are there any "easter eggs" in SQL Server? (Version 6.5)
Why do my device sizes appear as negative values in SQL EM? (Version 6.5)
Why can't I connect Enterprise Manager to my local copy of SQL Server? It connects ok to other machines. (all versions)
Why do I get an error message when I try to run SQL 7 EM - "MMC - Snap-in failed to initialize"? (Version 7.0)
How can I script my database schema? (all versions)
What happened to the gui for column level permissions in SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
Why do I get a 6.5 group in my SQL 7.0 MMC list of servers? How can I remove it? (Version 7.0)
Why do I get weird messages using SQL 7's MMC on Windows 2000 RC1? (Version 7.0)
I can't run SQL Server Enterprise Manager. I'm getting an error SQLOLE OLE object could not be registered. Class not registered (80040154). (Version 6.5)
What can't I do with SQL Enterprise Manager under Win9x? (Version 6.5)
Why am I getting gpf's/hangs running SQL tools under Windows 9x - I don't get the same problems with Windows NT clients? (all versions)
What does the red zig-zag line next to a server name in SQL Enterprise Manager mean? (all versions)

Full Text Indexing

Why do I get the error "An unknown full-text failure (80004005) occured in function EnumCatalogs on full-text catalog" when I try and enable text indexing? (Version 7.0)

General

How to

How can I decrypt a SQL Server stored-procedure? (Version 6.5)
How do I encrypt fields in SQL Server? What about whole objects or the whole database? (all versions)
I am having problems with SQL Server running bcp from xp_cmdshell - why does it not run or see the files I want it to? (all versions)
Why can't I get at a network file when I run a program with xp_cmdshell from SQL Server? (Version 6.5 and up)
How can I speed up SQL Server applications running over slow links. (Version 6.5 and up)
How can I tell if a stored procedure was created with the ANSI NULLS setting on? (Version 7.0)
How can I automate the scripting/transfer of a database/objects in SQL Server? (all versions)
How do I configure the debugger in Visual Studio to work with SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
How can I get a list of all files in a directory into SQL Server? (Version 7.0)
How can I get file information using SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I run an external (non-SQL) program/dll etc. from within a TSQL SQL Server script? What sort of function can I perform? (all versions)
How can I read/write to a flat file from inside a SQL Server TSQL script/stored-procedure/trigger? (all versions)
How can I clear SQL Server's procedure cache? (all versions)
How can I get the current time in GMT rather than local time? (all versions)
How can I get the hardware spec of a SQL Server remotely? (all versions)
How can I tell what columns in my SQL Server database are identity columns? How can I tell the seed and increment? (all versions)
How can I get ISQL.EXE to return a DOS errorlevel for me to test? (all versions)
How can I re-install SQL Server without losing any data under a new version of NT I have installed? (all versions)
How do I do row-level locking on SQL Server? (all versions)
How many bytes can I fit on a row/page in SQL Server and why? Are there any workarounds? (all versions)
How can I tell if a service is running from SQL? (all versions)
How can I check whether SQL 6.5 or SQl 7.0 is installed without connecting to SQL and logging on? (all versions)
How can I stop and start SQL Server from the command- line? I want to back it up with NT Backup. (all versions)
How can I create a user-defined function in SQL Server? (all versions)

What are all the DBCC commands for SQL Server? (all versions)
What is the precedence of the SET commands, database options, session options etc. in SQL Server? (all versions)
Can I create SQL Server databases on network drives? (all versions)
Is MS SQL Server Y2K compliant? What known issues are there? (all versions)
What are the minimum hardware/software requirements for SQL Server? (all versions)
What hardware specification do I need to run SQL Server for good performance? (all versions)
Do I really need a 166Mhz Pentium processor to run SQL Server 7.0? (Version 7.0)
Can I compress a SQL Server .DAT device/file? Will it cause any problems? Can I compress data inside a table? (all versions)
What is the MS Loopback adapter and why do I need it for SQL Server? (all versions)
Why does only one cpu get used with my SQL 6.5 system for an extremely complex/long running query? (all versions)
Why do I get arithmetic overflows and 'string truncated' errors with SQL 7? I didn't with 6.5. (Version 7.0)
When I use some of the SQL Server GUI tools I get the "dial-up" remote network prompt. How can I disable this? (all versions)
Are triggers fired or constraints checked with BCP on SQL Server? (all versions)
Where does the list of SQL Server's come from in registration/dialog boxes? What reasons are there for not getting a list? (all versions)
What registry entries does SQL Server's client use? (all versions)
Can I add comments to SQL Server's schema like I can with Access? (all versions)
Is there a DATE function for SQL Server? I don't want to hold the time. (All versions)
What is the dllhost.exe process on my machine that seems to use a lot of CPU? (all versions)
Why can't I use a GO in a stored-procedure? (all versions)
Why don't some of my drives appear in SQL Server? (all versions)
What happens when a SQL Server identity field reaches it's maximum value? (all versions)
What is the equivalent of the "INSTR" command in SQL Server? (all versions)
What does MS mean by Internal vs External fragmentation in SQL Server? (all versions)
Where is the pointer to master stored in SQL Server? How can I move the master database? (all versions)
What is the maximum number of rows in a SQL table? What other size limitations are there? (all versions)
Are SQL Server userid's and passwords passed in clear on the network? (all versions)
Where does SQL server store the permissions on tables? (all versions)
What registry entries does SQL Server use? (all versions)
Where can I get more info on the spt_values table? (all versions)
Why am I seeing indices in sysindexes that I haven't created with SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
What is sqlimage.dll? (Version 7.0)
Why can't I stop/start SQL from SQL Enterprise Manager? (all versions)
Why can't I access more than 4K of data in a TEXT field in SQL Server? (all versions)
Why does the new "TOP" command in SQL 7 not work? I get a syntax error. Also ALTER TABLE and other SQL 7 only commands. (Version 7.0)
What does dbcc traceon(208) mean in SQL Server? I see it in SQL's errorlogs, but I'm not issuing it. (Version 6.5)
Why do I get invalid rows returned containing hyphens when my where clause doesn't specify them? (Version 7.0)
Why am I seeing entries in sysindexes (or sp_helpindex) for indexes I have not created? (all versions)
What are the changes/differences between vX and vY of SQL Server? (all versions)
Why could the SQL version switch utility not work? (Version 7.0)

Information

3rd Party Tools

What tools are available to debug stored-procedures under SQL Server? (All versions)
What tools are available to produce entity relationship diagrams for SQL Server?
Where can I get the SQL Server Programmers Toolkit? (all versions)
What is SQLHDTST.EXE for SQL Server and where do I get it? (Version 7.0)
What tools are available to stress/benchmark SQL Server? (all versions)
What 3rd party tools are available to generate test-data for SQL Server?

Installation, Service Packs, and Hot Fixes

What service pack am I running? (all versions)
I'm having trouble installing SQL Server. What could be going wrong? (all versions)
Should I upgrade to 7.0? (Version 7.0)
Should I apply SP5? (Version 6.5)
I am having problems installing a SQL Service pack. (all versions)
What versions/types of SQL 7 are there and what are the differences? How can I tell which one I am running? (Version 7.0)
I need to move SQL Server to a new NT server - what are my options? (all versions)
Should I apply NT 4.0 SP4 to my SQL Server system? (all versions)
How can I install the 32-bit SQL Server client for NT or Windows 9x? (all versions)
Why does my copy of SQL Server say it is the 120 day eval edition when it is the full commercial copy? (all versions)
How can I upgrade the 120-day evaluation version to the full SQL version? (all versions)
Which sort-order should I choose for my SQL Server for the fastest performance? (all versions)
What are SQL Server hot-fixes and where can I get them? (all versions)
How can I install SQL 7.0 Desktop Edition from the Back Office 4.5 CD's? (all versions)
Why am I getting a message "The Enterprise Edition server component cannot be installed on Windows NT Server using this CD. Only client components will be available for installation." installing SQL 7? (all versions)
I'm having trouble installing SQL Server on Win9x. What could be going wrong? (all versions)
How do I install the SQL Server Internet Connector Software/license? What does it cover? (all versions)
When I run the MDAC setup routine that comes with SQL Server SP5(a) why does it re-invoke the service pack setup? (Version 6.5 SP5a)
How can I re-install just the MMC for SQL Server? (Version 7.0)
Should I apply NT 4.0 SP5 to my SQL Server system?
I am getting a gpf/registry error installing SQL Server - what is happening? (all versions)
Should I apply SP4? Will it cause more problems than it fixes? (Version 6.5)
Why can't I install SP4 for SQL Server to my Win95 machine like the readme says I can? (Version 6.5)
I am getting a "cfgchar" problem installing SQL Server 6.5 SP5 ? (Version 6.5)
Do SQL Service Packs have to be applied in order or can I just apply the latest one? (all versions)
Where can I get SQL 7.0 SP1? (Version 7.0)
Should I apply SP1 for SQL 7? Are there any known issues? (Version 7.0)
How can I modify the SQL 7 unattended install script? (Version 7.0)
Can I install SQL on a Terminal Server machine? (all versions)
How can I install SQL Server client tools in unattended mode? (all versions)
I'm having trouble with SQL Server unattended install. What could be going wrong? (all versions)
How can I completely uninstall SQL Server? (all versions)
How can I un-install a SQL Server servicepack and go back to the original version? (all versions)

Internet and SQL Server

Can I replicate/connect/whatever to SQL Server over the Internet? (all versions)

Logs

Why won't my log shrink in SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
How can I view the transaction log? (all versions)

MSDE

ODBC

OLAP

Profiler/SQL Trace

When I do a SQL Server trace I see lots of sp_cursoropen and sp_cursorfetch commands being sent that I am not generating. What are they? (all versions)

Query Analyzer/isqlw

Replication

I'm getting a 28000 error message on SQL Server after applying SP5a/MDAC 2.1. (Version 6.5)
Can I use SQL Replication between machines of different sort-orders/character sets/code-pages? (all versions)
Why am I limited to 6000 bytes per row when using merge replication? (Version 7.0)

Security

Why do I get an error in sqlsspi.c ? (all versions)

SQL Mail

How can e-mail with SQL Server without using an MS-Mail or Exchange server? (all versions)
SQL Mail keeps hanging - meaning I have to restart SQL Server to clear it. How can I resolve this? (all versions)
Why does sp_processmail fail with an error "Supplied datatype for set_user is not allowed, expecting 'varchar'" on SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
How do I install SQL Mail? I've got problems installing SQL Mail on SQL Server. (all versions)
How can I use Lotus Notes for SQL Mail? (all versions)
Mail messages are stuck in my outbox with SQL Mail. They don't get sent until I login as the user locally and open the inbox manually. (all versions)

SQL Server Agent/SQL Executive

System tables

How can I tell whether a table is a system (Microsoft) table in SQL 7? (Version 7.0)
How can I amend the system tables in SQL Server? Can I put a trigger on one? (all versions)

Transferring/moving objects/data

Troubleshooting

I'm getting a 1112 error on SQL Server. (Version 4.x)
I'm getting a 1203 error message on SQL Server. (all versions)
I'm getting a 1501 error message on SQL Server. (Version 6.5)
I'm getting a 1608 error message on SQL Server. (all versions)
I'm getting a 17832 error message on SQL Server. (all versions)
I'm getting a 2503 error message on SQL Server. (Up to version 6.5)
I'm getting a 2521 error message on SQL Server. (Up to version 6.5)
I'm getting a 416 error message on SQL Server. (Up to version 6.5)
I'm getting a 4409 error message on SQL Server. (Version 6.5 SP5a)
I'm blocking against syscolumns which is causing my application to lock up. (Version 6.5)
I'm getting a 602 error message on SQL Server. (Version 6.5)
I am getting an error 603 restoring a database ever since I applied SP5 to SQL 6.5. (Version 6.5 SP5)
I am getting an error 603 on database recovery in a SQL Server 6.0 system. (Version 6.0)
I am getting a 605 error message on SQL Server. (all versions)
I am getting a 610/925 error message on SQL Server. (Version 6.5)
I am getting a 702 error message on SQL Server. (Version 6.5)
I am getting an 80004005 error message. (all versions)
I am getting an 8623 error message on SQL Server. (Version 7.0)
I am getting an access violation or dbprocess dead message. (all versions)
Does SQL Server have memory leaks? How can I tell? Why is SQL Server using so much memory? (all versions)
I can't see the SQL performance counters in PerfMon. What could be wrong? (all versions)
I am getting a message "Protocol error in TDS Datastream" from a SQL Server query. What is going on? (all versions)
My SQL Server database is showing as "recovering". Why and what can I do? (all versions)
I am getting a message GetOverLappedResult() from a SQL Server query. What is going on? (all versions)
I am getting a blue screen / completely hung machine / server restart on my SQL Server/client. (all versions)
What does the SQL Server error message "Lazywriter: WARNING, couldn't find slot, 8/8, scanned 8" mean? (all versions)
My SQL Server database has been marked "suspect" - what can I do? (all versions)
SQL Server hangs and becomes unresponsive - what can I do? (all versions)
Why do I get an error "SQL Server Assertion : File: Line=yyy Failed Assertion='zzz' (all versions)
I'm getting a "bad token" error message from SQL Server - what causes this? (Version 6.5)
Why do I get an "UNEXPECTED EOF" message in BCP? (all versions)
What does the SQL Server error message "sort: bob write not complete after xx seconds." mean? (all versions)
What does "bufdiscard: WARNING, page xx (dbid n, bp 0xzzzzzzzz) has stat0x10080(), skipping" mean? (Version 6.5 and earlier)
What do the bufwait, writelog and buffer latch errors in SQL Server mean? (all versions)
A query produces this error in SQL 7 : - Internal Query Processor Error: The query processor could not produce a query plan. (Version 7.0)
Why do I get the message "WARNING: Process being freed while holding Dataserver semaphore" in SQL Server. (all versions)
Why is the date I get via select getdate() wrong in SQL Server? (Version 6.5 and below)
Why do I get slow or no connections to SQL Server using IPX from my Win3x and Win9x clients? From Windows NT they work fine. (all versions)
What does the error message "Failed to obtain TransactionDispenserInterface: XACT_E_TMNOTAVAILABLE" mean in SQL Server and should I be worried? (all versions)
How can I fix a corruption in a system table? (all versions)
I am trying to load a trace file into the SQL 7 Profiler/Index Tuning Wizard, but all I get is "Error analysing workload (60)". What does this mean? (Version 7.0)
Why does ISQL/W gpf when I move the mouse pointer with an Intellimouse. (Version 7.0)
I've overallocated memory for SQL Server and now it won't start - what can I do? (Version 6.5)
I have filled the model database's log and now SQL won't start with a 1105 error - what can I do? (all versions)
Why am I getting an MtxClu... error after applying SQL 6.5 SP5a? (Version 6.5 SP5a)
Why do I get an error message "Not enough server storage is available to process this request"? (all versions)
I'm getting an error 1117/2543 in SQL Server. Can I rebuild the extents somehow? (all versions)
Why do I get an error "Bad pointer 0xABCDEF encountered while remapping stored procedure" in SQL Server? (all versions)
Why would I get a message "Retrying row fetch:rowoffset entry out of range (pg% obj%, db %)" from SQL Server? (all versions)
Why do I get the error "Cannot use file because it was originally formatted with sector size and is now on a device with sector size " when I move SQL Server's log file? (Version 7.0)
Why do I get an error message "Not enough server storage is available to process this request"? (all versions)
I have a SQL Server process that shows as being in SPINLOOP. What does this mean? (all versions)

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Michael R. Hotek

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