you can install a service pack with SQL either up or down. If it is down when you start it will be down when the SP completes. You will then...

Aren't auditors fun? don't know why they would have such a requirement but many, many moons ago I wrote a script based on last_batch time in the much loved master..sysprocesses....

well I was sure I read it but cannot find it now. Old age I guess

Looks like it just covers CU10 from SP1 branch

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2014/07/23/cumulative-update-1-for-sql-server-2012-sp2.aspx

and a few important ones from CU11

http://sqlblog.com/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2014/07/23/sql-server-2012-service-pack-2-cumulative-update-1-is-available.aspx

ok, I see.

my research showed CU1 would cover it though.

you won't lose any security patches by applying just SP2.

SP2 includes up to post SP1 CU9, if you were at a later CU than that just applying SP2 CU1 will...

42 I had heard of, that quote from the books I had not. Out guessed myself on the geekness of the contributor, thought it was a double bluff.

its very recent so could be a bug in it, but I have not heard that.

The updates are cumulative so you do not have to apply CU1 to 4 first,...

aaaaaawwww, come on!

see this url

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345408(v=sql.100).aspx

click on the word 'here'

just make sure you use the page that refers to your version of sql.

Welsh Corgi (3/28/2015)

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The master database is the tricyest system database to move.

I had trouble years ago do this.

What are the options?

I prefer to not do it in SSMS. I did...

Must have been sql 2005, not possible...

probably best to read microsofts recommendations: http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2806535

A maxdop of either 1 or 0 is unlikely to be your best bet.

there is no hard and fast rule that is correct in all circumstances, but I very much doubt 1 (no parallelism) is the correct value for you, however, there are...

show them the current errorlog, I would expect you are seeing cachestore flushes as the databases change state. Hopefully enough to show them the error of their ways.