Switching to simple recovery may have made the process run faster, probably with less log file growth.  You had already stopped log shipping and replication, and planned a full backup afterwards.  One...

Your questions 2 and 3 amount to "How can I open huge security holes for non-sysadmins?".  If I knew an easy way to give alter-any-job and xp_cmdshell rights to non-sa...

If this is something you will reuse then the custom data source component is the best approach.

For a quick-and-dirty reformatting problems I use Textpad, and other editors exist that could...

The databases are the same no matter who makes the CPU.  You can also restore databases from 32-bit servers on 64-bit servers and vice-versa, the data is the same for...

I don't know about the distribution cleanup procedure, but the standard backup history deletion proc is such a dog that many people write their own version to eliminate the cursor. ...

One idea might be to correct the issues, or have a good idea why your particular situation requires violating a best practice.

Another good idea would be to be the person...

If you don't allow the log files to grow then instead of performance issues you have to worry about the application-crashing-because-the-log-file-is-full issues.

You have to get the log growth under control...

Obviously any change to this table will log a lot of activity, as well as possibly require restarting replication with a new snapshot.  You are correct that this table would...

If you're not sure about SQL syntax, use one of the graphical query builders to help you build it.

In Enterprise Manager, you can right-click on a table and choose "Open...

Usually you exclude the database files (mdb and ldb) from virus scanning, and there is no normal interaction between the virus scanner and SQL Server database I/O.  But if you...

Sounds like something a database table could keep track of very nicely.

Or create a Processed folder, and move the file after processing.

Or set or clear the Archive or ReadOnly properties of...

In my experience, most people arguing against stored procedures in general are trying to mask their own incompetence with writing, debugging, deploying, securing, and/or maintaining stored procedures.  Or it is...

You might consider storing date values as datetime or smalldatetime, instead of as strings.  It would avoid problems like this, as well as save some space in the database.

Since when are stored procedures not a best practice in "modern environments"?  I would have to ask what they consider to be their "environment".  Is it the environment where you...

Look up "ALTER USER (Transact-SQL)" in Books Online.

"DEFAULT_SCHEMA cannot be specified for a user that is mapped to a Windows group"