You will need Domain Admin authority or someone who has it iun order to get that information.

Mark SQLRecon does the WMI thing ... and AD and port 1433/1434 and tells you the complete version and if I remember even checks for blank sa passwords ! 

It needs...

Do not forget service accounts for SQL Server and the SQL Agent. If you are using clustered servers then you have to add the 'clustering' service account and the MSDTC...

SQLRecon is the way to go. To get the best bang out of it you will need a Domain Admin to run it.

Bad Disk and no backups ?!?!?!?

There are only two SPs I know of that can help in that specific situation:

exec sp_update_resume

exec sp_distribute_resume

No PC stuff here ... it is back to the basics:

Communication - The conveyance of the speakers thoughts into words that impart the same thoughts to the listener when listening...

I take my hat off you Andras - I thought nobody else knew that ...

This advice should also be coupled with NOT NULL as well because anytime you allow a...

Full version like developer ?

Either I am dense or blind ... do yuou have a link at MS for the developer version ?

As for the evaluation version will it install on XP ???

This is a great 'can of worms. ... I personaly do not put faith in certs for many of the reasons stated so I will not belabor the point. I...

I always love to read extended posts on the virtues or lack thereof concerning RAID 0,1, 5, 1+0 & 0+1. Things always boil down to site standards, performance, money. I've used...

huh ???? 1-2 hours to reinstall the EM ??? that has to be one really sloooooow server ...

A simple create on an HP DL-380 G5 attached to an EMC SAN should be less than 20 minutes.

A single threaded restore on the same type of server can achieve...

You could try adding the following to the execution command line:

    >> some_error_file_path_and_name.txt 2>>&1

This will capture any standard output from the command in addition to any error text thrown.

I would...

errorlog, then errorlog.1 ... because I just restarted the instance and want to make sure that it is OK and available for use then errorlog.1 to see if there is...