A client’s maintenance plan kept failing with: xp_create_subdir() returned error 183, Cannot create a file when that file already exists. Here is the fix.
Msg 15281: Ad Hoc Distributed Queries Blocked in SQL Server
Msg 15281 appears when OPENROWSET or OPENDATASOURCE runs while Ad Hoc Distributed Queries is turned off. A reader hit it while reading an Excel file. Two sp_configure calls turned the component on, and the query worked.
SQL SERVER – Installation Stuck at Offline Installation of Microsoft Machine Learning Server Components
My SQL Server 2017 install got stuck at Offline Installation of Microsoft Machine Learning Server Components. Here is why it happens and how to move forward.
SQL SERVER – SETUP Error: The Syntax of Argument “/ACTION” is Incorrect
Uninstalling SQL Server from the command line, I got: The syntax of argument “/ACTION” is incorrect. Here is what the error means and how to fix the command.
SQL SERVER – Unable to Uninstall – Index was Outside the Bounds of the Array
My machine crashed mid-install, and uninstalling SQL Server 2017 then failed with: Index was outside the bounds of the array. This is how I cleaned it up.
SQL SERVER – SQL Server Agent Missing in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
A client could not see the SQL Server Agent node, it was missing in SQL Server Management Studio. Here are the possible causes, starting with sysadmin rights.
SQL SERVER – 5061: FIX Error: ALTER DATABASE failed because a lock could not be placed on database ‘Database Name’. Try again later.
Trying to take a test database offline, we hit Msg 5061: ALTER DATABASE failed because a lock could not be placed on database. Here is how to fix it.