A customer’s SQL Server 2017 install kept failing with “VS Shell installation has failed with exit code 1638”. Here is what caused it and how we fixed it.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
SQL SERVER – List Users with System Admin (sysadmin) Rights – Part 2
After my post on listing users with System Admin (sysadmin) rights, Chris Mangrum shared a better script that also covers CONTROL SERVER. Here it is.
SQL SERVER – Too many dumps generated. CPerIndexMetaQS::ErrorAbort – Index Corruption
A reader had too many dumps with CPerIndexMetaQS::ErrorAbort. Here is how we traced them to index corruption and the steps we took to fix it.
SQL SERVER – List Users with System Admin (sysadmin) Rights
I List Users with System Admin membership before agreeing on the permissions for a health check. This query inspects visible principals.
How to Kill Processes Idle for X Hours? – Interview Question of the Week #152
Interview question: how to kill processes idle for X hours in SQL Server? Here is a script that finds idle sessions and kills them.
SQL SERVER – Fix Error – Restore Operation Failed for Database Due to Insufficient Memory in the Resource Pool ‘Default’
SQL SERVER – Fix Error – Restore Operation Failed for Database Due to Insufficient Memory in the Resource Pool ‘Default’
SQL SERVER – Login Failed. The Login is From an Untrusted Domain and Cannot be Used with Windows Authentication – SPN Issue
Login failed, untrusted domain, error 18452, and a cluster that would not fail over. The cause was an SPN. How to read the SPN messages.
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Who We Are
Pinal Dave is an SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert and independent consultant with over 24 years of hands-on experience. He holds a Masters of Science degree and numerous database certifications.
Pinal has authored 19 books and 125 Pluralsight courses. To freely share his knowledge and help others build their expertise, Pinal has also written more than 5,800 database tech articles on his blog at https://blog.sqlauthority.com.
Pinal is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) and CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2).
Nupur Dave is a social media enthusiast and an independent consultant. She primarily focuses on the database domain, helping clients build short and long-term multi-channel campaigns to drive leads for their sales pipeline.
Shaivi Pinalkumar Dave is a book author and a women’s artistic gymnast.

