To see progress while a long script runs, use RAISERROR WITH NOWAIT instead of PRINT. This post builds a progress loop, formats values with placeholders, and shows the percent sign trap that garbles a message. It also explains how severity decides whether a message stays inside a TRY block, and where the 2,047 character limit cuts a message.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
SQL SERVER – Script Upgrade – Server Principal ‘MS_PolicyEventProcessingLogin’ Has Granted One or More Permission(s)
SQL Server would not start after patching: Script Upgrade failed because ##MS_PolicyEventProcessingLogin## had been granted permissions. Here is the fix.
SQL SERVER – FIX : Msg 35295, Level 16 – Log Backup For Database ‘DBName’ on a Secondary Replica Failed
During load testing, a log backup on a secondary replica failed with Msg 35295 because the last backup LSN was ahead of the redo LSN. Here is why.
SQL SERVER – Queries are in KILLED/ROLLBACK State with Wait PREEMPTIVE_OLEDB_RELEASE
After a network outage, queries stayed in KILLED/ROLLBACK with the undocumented wait PREEMPTIVE_OLEDB_RELEASE. What I saw and how to clear them.
SQL SERVER – Installation Error – The Specified Driver is Invalid
SQL Server setup failed for several features, and the setup logs said ‘The specified driver is invalid’. Here are the symptoms, the cause and the fix.
SQL SERVER – SQL Browser not Starting. Error – The SQL Configuration for SQL is Inaccessible or Invalid
After server hardening, SQL Browser would not start and the event log said the SQL configuration for SQL is inaccessible or invalid. Here is the fix.
Why to Use SQL Server Configuration Manager Over Services applet (services.msc)? – Interview Question of the Week #112
Why use SQL Server Configuration Manager Over Services applet (services.msc) to change a service account? The reasons, from permissions to passwords.
SQL Server slow? Let's fix it together in about four hours.
In my Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check, you share your screen, I guide you, and we fix your biggest performance troublemakers. No passwords. No remote access.
You keep every script, and the know-how to fix it yourself next time.
Want your whole team to learn it?
My Practical Workshop has no PowerPoint, just live demos. My AI Enablement Workshop shows your team where AI saves hours, and where it quietly costs them.
Over 400 customers have worked with me this way, and not one shared a password. See all consulting options.