again, thanks to all.

I'm sure to come back with more specific wuestions on this very soon

Take a look at xp_cmdshell in BOL.

The example there

exec master.dbo.xp_cmdshell 'dir *.exe'

shows the results from the server directory, not your local computer.

This one might help

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/RDyess/traceflags.asp

I doubt that using OLE automation is really that what you're after.

Although you might be able to achieve the goal you're after, using the sp_oa* procedures has massive impact on...

Piggy-backing on Jonathan, this article might explain this thing about sp_* a bit more

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/jtravis/sp_performance.asp

Actually, why dropping the table?

What about adding an int column, update that new column with the values of your 'identity' column, drop that identity column, and rename the int column?

Well,...

Taken from BOL filegroups -> index placement

By default, indexes are created on the same filegroup as the base table on which the index is created. However, it is possible to...

Hey Brian, put the bugs back in !!!

 Now that's nice.

In the Data Warehousing\Business Intelligence category I can see myself within the TOP 15 at 10 points while in the table below...

...no problem with me, but I was just wondering.

You might want to take a look at this comprehensive article on dynamic sql

http://www.sommarskog.se/dynamic_sql.html

No comparison on absolute numbers.

Top 10 or 20 overall (and maybe within a certain time range).

Top 10 or 20 in the subcategegories .

Render your judgement, pass the closed envelope to the judge and stay...

No, I haven't tried.

I have no influence on the hardware. And our smart admins put 3 GB of RAM on a box with SQL 2K standard edition, and asked...

Hm,...I think I have seen exactly this table in BOL under Maximum Capacity Specification.

And I have updated BOL