At the license agreement step, SQL Server setup stopped with ‘File format is not valid’. Here is what caused this Installation Error for my client and the fix.
Comparison – Understanding Tables Between Oracle and SQL Server
Oracle and SQL Server table names can hide important differences. Compare storage, temporary-row visibility, external data and memory-focused features.
SQL SERVER – The NOLOCK Question – Notes from the Field #117
Stuart Ainsworth discusses NOLOCK, dirty reads and safer alternatives. A two-session example shows why uncommitted results can be misleading.
Generating Test Data That Behaves Like the Real Thing
Make test data generation reflect skew, row width, missing values, and key relationships so your SQL Server experiments expose realistic plan risks.
SQL SERVER – syspolicy_purge_history job failing step: Erase Phantom System Health Records
A client’s syspolicy_purge_history job kept failing at the step Erase Phantom System Health Records. Here is what the job does and how to fix the failure.
SQL SERVER – Setup Closed with Exit Code 0x80004005
Setup for SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3 closed with exit code 0x80004005 and wrote no summary log. Here is where to find sqlsetup.log in %TEMP% and what it showed.
Interview Question of the Week #061 – How to Retrieve SQL Server Configuration?
A common interview question: how do you retrieve SQL Server configuration? Right-click and Properties is not enough. Here is the better answer.