STUFF boundaries govern insertion and deletion. See valid positions, zero length, NULL replacement and out-of-range starts.
SQL SERVER – Fix : Error 8101 An explicit value for the identity column in table can only be specified when a column list is used and IDENTITY_INSERT is ON
Error 8101 means you gave a value for an identity column. What IDENTITY_INSERT does, why there are two different errors, and why TRY CATCH misses it.
Auditing Who Holds CONTROL SERVER and IMPERSONATE Rights
Audit CONTROL SERVER and impersonation grants alongside sysadmin and role inheritance, test effective rights, and remove excess access.
SQL SERVER – Fix: Sqllib error: OLEDB Error encountered calling IDBInitialize::Initialize. hr = 0x80004005. SQLSTATE: 08001, Native Error: 17
A Sqllib error with hr = 0x80004005 and Native Error 17 says SQL Server does not exist or access denied. The simple fix is to enable TCP-IP in Configuration Manager.
Checking the Update History of an Instance
Reconstruct SQL Server update history from Setup Bootstrap logs, startup error logs, and the current build when no patch ledger exists.
SQL SERVER – Script to Determine Which Version of SQL Server 2000-2005 is Running
A quick way to see which version of SQL Server 2000 or 2005 is running: SERVERPROPERTY returns the product version, the product level and the edition.
SQL SERVER – QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON/OFF and ANSI_NULL ON/OFF Explanation
What do SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER and SET ANSI_NULLS do around every stored procedure you create? A plain explanation of both settings, ON and OFF.