I thnk you are probably ok with leaving it until you can reboot. I've had DTS jobs that I've killed from DTS as well as SQL and just let them...

There are places where KILL will not interrupt the process. So if it takes a few minutes, be aware that it might be finishing something before it stops the backup.

The above advice is the best way. I've written a few articles on auditing SQL Server and this is what I typically do.

If KILL won't do it, and I'd be sure to run it a few times, you have to restart the server.

netimpress.com. Brian Kelley has a performance tuning book. You can also search performance here. I'd go big in your case, maybe even contact MS and ask them for some help....

I believe you are correct in that SQL needs to restart.

lepez, they are not visible any longer. We are looking to republish the questions and answers, so look for that soon.

I tend to agree. I'd hope that more people are concerned about learning and would think about it before testing in QA. Same for checking BOL before thinking or guessing.

There are times this doesn't work because of the virtual log files. If you can't get it to shrink, try this script:

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/scripts/contributions/26.asp

That works great for the same server. Typically in this scenario, the backup is coming from another server, or being pushed to another server. Still this would help with identifying...

I'm a little confused. What does this tool do? I've allowed the network admins to have the sa password as they have been my remote hands before, but only when...

When you detach, all transactions will complete or rollback. The update statistics is to ensure they are up to date before you detach.

There is no way to determine this after the fact. If you are getting deadlocks, use the hints above to setup a trace and look for them.

Rather than search for the city name, what about searching for the state and then adding the comma before it?

Get the performance plan from Query Analyzer. CTRL-K should turn it on. Run your query and then look at the performance plan. It will clue you in to the sections...