Does the service account you used have sysadmin rights within the SQL Server?

TargetServersRole is not needed to handle creation/modification of DTS packages. In msdb the TargetServers role doesn't have any explicit permissions not already assigned to public. It does, however, have the...

This depends... sometimes you want objects not owned by dbo, especially if dealing with cross-database ownership chaining when you want to break the chain.

Also, before forcing an object owner change,...

The advice given is the only way to get to SQL Server logins only. If there is a Windows user account/group granted login rights to SQL Server, it'll be able...

This depends. If the DBA is trusted to look at the data, SQL Server can do the encryption. If the DBAs aren't trusted, encryption should happen at the application layer....

Log on as an account that is a sysadmin role member, such as the sa account, through Query Analyzer. Execute the following:

EXEC sp_grantlogin 'BUILTIN\Administrators'

EXEC sp_addsrvrolemember 'BUILTIN\Administrators', 'sysadmin'

Whoa. Before port scanning, make sure you're ISP is okay with this (hint, they probably won't be). Port scanning is considered impolite at best and criminal intrusion at worst. BTW,...

Hehe. Even MS's sites work fine with FireFox. Tabbed browsing. That's what sold me. And extensions.

It makes sense to keep all system level stored procedures in only one place. Hence the reason for master. Consider that if you placed it in model, that means for...

This works if they are on an AD domain. There isn't delegation on NT 4. Hence the reason I asked the question.

Changing to another domain account (unless it's the SQL Server service account) runs the risk of having the same issue again. I'm not sure you gain anything by using anything...

Your images didn't come through but you can use the system stored procedure sp_helprotect to show detailed information about permissions. It shows both table/view and column privileges. You'll have to...

Long-winded answer:

sp_password is a system stored procedure. Because it starts with sp_, SQL Server will look for it in the master database.

The master database has the guest user activated (this...

This sounds like a double hop issue. You're connecting using Windows authentication when coming from QA, right?

Are you still an NT 4 domain or an Active Directory domain?

Here's what I find in the MS KnowledgeBase on the patch:

You Receive an Error Message When You Install the MS03-031: Cumulative Security Patch for SQL Server...