We are unable to start SQL Server Agent. It was giving the following error when we were trying to start it from the services console The SQL Server Agent (MSSQLSERVER) service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically...

While taking backups for SQL Server databases onto a mapped drive you might get the following error: " The system cannot find the path specified." This is because a network share that you map using a local drive letter will not be visible to a SQL...

This is one of those challenging situations when customers call us at times. I can understand the gravity of the situation – your boss is behind your back, your business is down, your application is down, your website cannot accept orders or your phone...

In the below blog, I am going to share my experience on one of the unique case which I have worked couple of days back. The issue will arise if you have installed SQL with the default collation and your machine is using English (US). Now say for example...

Ideally DTS Packages should be upgraded to SSIS packages as we move from sql 2000 to sql 2005/sql 2008. And one of the good articles which provides information on how to upgrade DTS packages to SSIS package is written by Jason Howell http://blogs.msdn...

We have seen several issues where installation of Service Pack/Hotfix/GDR/CU fails to install on one or more components of SQL Server 2005. In this blog , I have tried to include few troubleshooting tips and tricks for these kinds of installation failures...

Consider the following Scenario, You are using SQL Server 2008 Enterprise edition RTM or higher version and you are Transparent database encryption (new feature introduce in SQL Server 2008) to encrypt the Database to be mirrored. The database encryption...

1. Can I use SQL 2008 slipstreamed installer to install SQL Server 2008 failover cluster? Yes. Launch the setup.exe from command prompt with PCUSource = <path to extracted SP1>. Refer http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/03/02/sql-server...

C:\windows\Installer is not a temporary folder and files in it should not be deleted. If you do it on machines on which you have SQL Server installed you may have to rebuild the operating system and reinstall SQL Server. The Windows Installer Cache...

A recent discussion on the #sqlhelp hashtag on Twitter got me researching into this issue. The error message was: 2010-10-19 02:56:59.380 Logon Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 11 . 2010-10-19 02:56:59.380 Logon Login failed for user <Server name>...

SYMPTOM ======= · When you try to create a login using the command "Create login [<Domain>\<Machine account>$] from windows" we might get the following error o Msg 15025, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 o The server principal '<DOMAIN...

Consider a scenario where an upgrade from SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 fails with the following messages while installing Setup Support Files. ******************************************************** TITLE: SQL Server Setup failure. -------------...

Symptom: While installing SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM in a Windows 7 box, noticed an error message: SQL Server Setup has encountered the following error: Version's parameters must be greater than or equal to zero. This error occurs after...

In a recent issue with a customer, I came across a strange SQL belief (or say a DBA Myth) regarding SQL Server Transaction Logs Backup/Restore. Let me explain you what was the scenario and then let’s try attempting to break the myth with quick testing...

As you might be aware that SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” has introduced a new feature called Always ON for enhancing the availability of user database in a enterprise environment. In simple terms, AlwaysON is a high-availability and disaster recovery...

Before I talk about how to monitor the deadlocks let us have a small brief what is deadlock and how we were handling them in the previous versions of SQL Server. Deadlock : A deadlock occurs when there is a cyclic dependency between two or more...

I recently read a blog post on what was better using GUIDs or Integer values. This is been an age long debate and there are advocates in both camps stressing on the disadvantages of the other. Well both implementations have their advantages and disadvantages...

In SQL server the default instance has a listener which listens on the fixed port which is TCP port 1433. This is the default behavior. However for the named instance the port on which the SQL server listens is random and is dynamically selected when...

Have you ever wondered if there is a programmatic way to detect all the SQL server instances and services installed on a machine. Well, worry no more as the code below will do exactly that. There are 2 ways to go about this : Method 1 – For the Programmer...

Every once in a while I see VDI backups failing and questions being asked as to whether the sqlvdi.dll (which exposes the Interfaces to perform the backup) or the Software being used to take the backup is responsible or is it an issue with the Environment...

Recently we encountered a case where in the Log Reader Agent fails to run and the following error is reported in the Replication Monitor Error messages: The process could not execute 'sp_replcmds' on 'TXDAL01410'. (Source: MSSQL_REPL, Error number: MSSQL_REPL20011...

I've seen a couple issues where SQL 2005 SP3 setup failed with below error for database engine and tools. Customer had installed SQL 2005 and SP2 from network location (using mapped drive) and is concerned that problem is due to install being a network...

Consider a scenario when during the installation of SQL Reporting Services 2005 the option to choose Reporting Services is grayed out. The following warning displayed in SCC check 32-bit ASP.Net is Registered. Required 64-bit ASP.Net to install...

We ran into a situation when SQL browser service was not running on the server, we followed the following steps to reach a state of getting browser service to run. Environment Windows Server 2003 SQL Express 2005 Service Pack: SP2 · We followed...

Recently, I worked on an interesting case where customer after upgrading an instance of SQL Server 2008 with SP1, the SQL server 2008 services and resources went into a stopped and failed state respectively. The services might appear to come online briefly...