Creating a database in SSMS gave me ‘Unable to cast object of type System.DBNull to type System.String’. Here is how I tracked down the cause and fixed it.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
SQL SERVER – Script level upgrade for database master failed because upgrade step sqlagent100_msdb_upgrade.sql encountered error
Another cause of ‘Script level upgrade for database master failed’, this time from sqlagent100_msdb_upgrade.sql, and how I fixed it for a client.
Zip Files in SSIS With a Script Task and ZipFile
To zip files in SSIS you don’t need a third-party tool. This guest post by Kevin Hazzard shows how a Script Task and the .NET ZipFile class zip a whole folder in a few lines of C#, and which errors to expect.
SQL SERVER – Error Fix: Msg 13601 Working with JSON Structure
Msg 13601 showed up while I was working with JSON output: a property cannot be generated due to a conflict with another column name. Here is the fix.
Tail-Log Backup: Saving the Last Transactions Before a Restore
Take a tail-log backup before an approved restore, understand NORECOVERY and damaged-database options, and rehearse the full recovery chain.
SQL SERVER – FCB::Open failed: Could not open file Path for file number 2. OS error: 5(Access is denied.)
SQL Server would not start after a client moved database files from C to D drive: FCB::Open failed with OS error 5, Access is denied. Here is the fix.
Moving TempDB to New Drive – Interview Question of the Week #077
A 1 AM call: TempDB was full on the C drive. Here is the popular interview question on moving TempDB to new drive, with the steps I use.
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.
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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.
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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.

