Does your BM know that by removing xp_cmdshell it will also be putting you out of support with Microsoft? If your BM does not care, your Security or Audit...

Some people suggested buying SQL Developer Edition. If you have the cash, get a TechNet Plus subscript (about USD $350). I have this, and it gives you all...

You do not have to stay on SQL 2000 just because you need DTS.

If you install SQL 2005 and download and install the DTS Designer component you have a fully...

First of all, you need to comply with site standards. Many sites classify passwords for service accounts, etc, as Type 1 data (your Security team will tell you...

Another thing to remember...

The command environment that SQL uses to run commands from xp_cmdshell is not the full CMD environment you get on your desktop.

There is no input stream in...

Alberto, is there anyone in your office wearing a blue shirt?

When you answer this, do you count all the people who are wearing blue shirts before answering yes or no....

Take a look at the Oracle site. Sign up for their free magazine, it contains a lot of useful info similar to SQL Server Magazine. Look for Oracle...

Completely agree with you.

Microsoft do some things well. But they do almost anything but make it easy for their customers to schedule maintenance work. Regular and predictable maintenance...

Yes, Custom Reports are cool, but you do need SP2.

You need something to aim for. How about 'Better than the Don' for a score above 28067

Google 'Taskpad view custom report' - there are a few to choose from. Download what you want and put it in your My Documents\SQL Server Management Studio\Custom Reports folder....

If you want a fixed port, this can be configured using SQL Server Configuration Manager. Click on Network Configuration then look at 'Protocols for instance-name', right-click on TCP/IP and...

The minimum build level you should consider is SP2 plus CU1. SP2 fixed many issues but introduced some new bugs that were resolved in CU1.

Now that MS are delivering...

If you are doing aggregation queries, where the consistency of the result is not critical, you should make NOLOCK your default choice. Also make NOLOCK your default choice when...

What you want to do looks to be similar to the first step SQL takes when creating a full-text index on a RTF document. When SQL builds a FT...