I updated the stats with full scan and it is still doing the same. So I now came to the conclusion that the SQL engin is not that smart and...

Stats are rebuilt every sunday. Stats auto update is on. I include execution plans for query with hint and without. You will see that the question_a.sqlplan is for query with...

I can not add this. It takes 3 hours and we are a 24hour company. I just want to know why SQL 2005 would not use an index that makes...

Thanks for all the replies.

The index was dropped and rebuild on friday. Stats was updated on Sunday.

Can it still be stats? Is there something I can check?

Thanks for the assist. I always enjoy spending money.

Thanks will try it

Thanks for the reply - Why then does it run OK if only the script is run from the same server. Can I send through the script so you can...