Is it possible to attach a USB drive or some external drive to the server and then restore the database and put the LDF file on that drive.  You can...

Didn't realize you needed those too.  You won't be able to use master with a different version of SQL Server (I don't think).  I don't know a good automated way to...

You should be able to detach all of your user databases, re-install the enterprise version of SQL Server and then re-attach the databases to the new version.

Yes that is true.  Go download Hexedit off of download.com, alter a backup file, and then restore the backup file.  It works very well with char fields.  Simply Find a...

You really cannot determine this without doing some execution plan analysis.  Also, make sure that your database statistics are updated before doing any real analysis because this will cause the...

The best use for filegroups is when you can separate filegroups into individual disks for improved perfomance.  Also, you can put your most critical filegroups on your fastest disk while...

I would look for table locks and blocked spids.  This is typically the reason why a query that typically takes miliseconds takes significantly longer.  If another query/user has a lock...

You can also take a backup of a database ona  64 bit server and restore it onto a 32 bit machine.

That will just rename the database.  If you need to rename the files making up the database you must do that when the database is offline whether through a detatch...

This is not always the case... its burned many people before.  Just because a backup completes with no errors does not mean it is valid.  The first thing that you...

As for litespeed's restore times there are several things which must be considered.

If you are restoring a database to a new database, SQL Server must first initialize the data...

Best bet is to try restoring the database in Query Analyzer:

RESTORE DATABASE <dbname> FROM FILE='<filename>'

This will give you the most detailed error message for troubleshooting.

It is not necessary to backup to a different server if you can plug a second disk into your main server.  This way even if you lose the server you...

you can use the osql utility to do this.  Type osql -L from the command line or:

exec master..xp_cmdshell 'osql -L' from query analyzer and you will get a list of...

Most backup products require SA priviledges.  Microsofts VDI is the api which most of these products use and to be able to run a VDI command you must have administrator...