What is an example of where the same values are being seen as different? I'm running examples where the comparisons (nchar to char) always succeed.

(Do you rather mean like where...

What error messages are you getting when you try to start SQL?

Look for the file “Errorlog,” which SQL generates. It may be in the default path, something like C:\Program Files\Microsoft...

Thank you all for your help. I can't redesign the table structures, at least at this time, but I can tweak the indexes. You've helped me know what to weigh...

I really appreciate your insight and help.

I'm guess I'm wondering what I get in exchange for declaring a primary key (in my peculiar setting).

On the con side,

(1) Slowdown...

Hmm. Now, there IS a function in the where clause ("where statusID = dbo.GetIdfromEnum(1)", which hits a table with 6 rows). Hard-coding the GUID I'm looking for makes the query...

The sproc was designed to return a relative handful of new records. I knew SQL prefered indexes that tended toward unique, but I was surprised that it would throw out...

Running this little query in management studio can tell you what statements (including itself) are being processed at the moment.

SELECT a.session_id, c.dbid,

SUBSTRING(c.text, (a.statement_start_offset/2)+1,

...

MJ,

Thank you for your response, and for posting the MS website. I was having trouble finding it again. That may be all that is left to us.

I had seen...

You didn't specify what editions you're upgrading from/to, but just in case (or for others in a similar boat)...

The database property "auto_close" is defaulted to true for the free versions...

Let me see if I understand your questions. You want to connect to a SQL instance from another machine. One instance ("MSSQLSERVER") will not start, and another ("SCSF\SQLExpress") cannot be...

BPA appears to stand for SQL "Best Practices Analyzer." I'm not sure why it's giving you grief, but here are some thoughts.

1. Logs

1a. Is...

Argh! In my code, the

COUNT(SELECT CASE WHEN

should have read

SUM(CASE WHEN

'Sorry -- too hurried.

The parenthesis right after the last outer join looks reversed, and the final parenthesis is missing.

Maybe you could accomplish this without the sub Qs and joins with

SELECT DISTINCT

...

Sure 'nuf, the browser was the difference. Thank you all for your help.

I'll be studying to get a better understanding of how the ports are used between instances as well....

Microsoft says their independent SP2 upgrade is good for all SQL 2005 except Express (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=D07219B2-1E23-49C8-8F0C-63FA18F26D3A&displaylang=en). There it reads,

Note: To upgrade SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, obtain the SP2 version...