John has a very good point.  You should look to avoid file system fragmentation by setting appropriate database file sizes and growth increments.  Also, very important, avoid regularly shrinking your...

Google 'sql jobid sysjobs' and look at the hit from sqldev.net.  This looks like having the code you need.

Both autogrow and autoshrink will give hard drive fragmentation, but autoshrink is the real killer.

If you start with a minimum size database and do maintenance such as index rebuilds, the...

To visualise this, use Enterprise Manager.  Click on a database to get it in focus, then right-click, and select view taskpad.  The taskpad display will show space used and space...

I have never tried doing what you want to do.  Is it possible to use a different SQL instance to do all your restore work.  When you have a clean...

You could do a lot worse than using Conchango (from a satisfied customer).  They have probably more MVPs working for them than any other company, and have been involved in...

We looked at the implications of upgrading to SQL 2005 earlier this year and decided it was too much effort to fit into our business plans this year, and possibly...

In some situations it can be frustrating to have to get a local admin account unlocked to allow me to do some work, but this is a very rare situation. ...

In our shop we run SQL using a local admin account, but DBAs all have general user account access.  You can use Windows permissioning to allow any account to start/stop...

Outsourcing and offshoring are just expressions of the business need to get the most value out of the IT Investment.  If the CxO and Board see figures that show that...

The advice of tuning the underlying tables, and using a dummy entry (eg -1) so you can convert your outer joins to inner joins is...

I would want to do some serious benchmarking before putting any production SQL Server box on VM.  Microsoft still has a long way to go with virtualisation, and still has...

You can run multiple SQL instances on the same server, regardless of service pack.

What are your instances called?  Is the instance name reflected in the path to the program libraries...

I am not sure about the answer to some of your questions, but yes - heaps could be defragmented in the way you suggest, it is just the Microsoft has...

As Arun says, check the SQL Errorlogs.  Also check the Windows Event Logs.  Try to narrow down what caused the problem, and see if you can identify the root cause.

Ultimately,...