To auto start SQL Server after a crash, set the Windows service to restart itself on failure, and set its start mode to Automatic for a reboot. This post checks what a server has today with T-SQL and the sc command, sets the three places that matter, and shows how to find the cause of the crash. A restart gets the server running again, and it doesn’t find the cause.
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SQL SERVER – How to Remove TempDB File?
A DBA accidentally added an extra TempDB file and was not allowed to use SSMS to undo it. Here is how to remove a TempDB file with T-SQL only.
Mirrored Database: Move Files Without Breaking Mirroring
To move the files of a mirrored database, change the file paths on the principal with ALTER DATABASE, stop both instances, move the files, and start them again in the right order. This post tests the T-SQL steps on a demo database and describes the mirroring steps from the documented behavior. It also covers what to check afterward.
CPU-Bound Queries: Comparing worker_time to elapsed_time
Is a slow query working or waiting? Compare its two clocks and you will know what to fix before anyone buys more CPU.
Pareto Analysis in T-SQL: Which Products Make 80 Percent of Sales
Build Pareto analysis in T-SQL with product totals, stable running sums, and explicit ABC thresholds that handle ties and boundary choices.
NOLOCK Without WITH: Table Hint or Table Alias?
NOLOCK without WITH and without parentheses is not a hint, because SQL Server reads it as a table alias. This post proves it with a lock test, shows why the compatibility level doesn’t change it, and gives a query that finds the bad syntax in your code. It ends with the safer ways to write the hint.
SQL SERVER – Error Due to Database Context – Error 208 – Invalid Object Name
Stuck on Error 208, Invalid Object Name, in SSMS? Often the object is fine and you are simply in the wrong database. Here is how database context causes it.
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