Author: Peter Whyte
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SQL Server Login Migration: What Gets Silently Left Behind
sp_help_revlogin carries more than you think, including disabled state. What nothing carries, and why the script you actually ran matters more.
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CREATE USER WITHOUT LOGIN vs Contained Database Users
Both look like a user with no login and they are opposites. How to tell them apart, what each is for, and the migration break that fails silently.
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The sqldba MCP Server: Give Your AI Assistant a Verified SQL Server Reference
The reference behind this site, as six tools an AI assistant can call: error numbers, wait types, patch levels and scripts, hand-verified rather than scraped. It never connects to your SQL Server, and it refuses rather than guessing.
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Cannot Resolve the Collation Conflict (Error 468)
Nothing is broken when you see 468. Two sides of a comparison store text under different rules, and SQL Server will not guess which should win. The fix is one line, and it does not belong on the column.
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Logical Consistency-Based I/O Error in SQL Server (Errors 823 and 824)
823 means the storage failed the read and said so. 824 means it succeeded and the data was wrong. Which one you have changes who you escalate to, and what you protect first.
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Cannot Recover the Master Database (Error 3417) and What the Log Actually Says
3417 is the summary, not the diagnosis. Four kinds of master damage reproduced in a throwaway container, and 3417 appeared in none of them. Here is what each one actually logs.
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The Database Principal Owns a Schema in the Database and Cannot Be Dropped (Error 15138)
🚨Part of the SQL Server Errors series, the exact messages and what actually causes them. Msg 15138 · Level 16 · State 1 The database principal owns a schema in the database, and cannot be dropped. Msg 15138, Level 16, State 1 ⚡Reassign, then drop. ALTER AUTHORIZATION ON SCHEMA::[name] TO [dbo] clears it, but check…
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RESTORE Is Terminating Abnormally (Errors 3013 and 3241)
3013 is never the cause, it is the last line of a failed restore. Five restore failures reproduced in a container, five different real errors above it, and three of them had nothing wrong with the backup file.
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Insufficient System Memory and Memory Grant Timeouts (Errors 701 and 8645)
701 is the server unable to find memory at all. 8645 is the memory existing and being held by someone else. Neither one means buy more RAM, and cumulative wait stats will mislead you about both.
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The Backup Set Holds a Backup of a Database Other Than the Existing Database (Error 3154)
🚨Part of the SQL Server Errors series, the exact messages and what actually causes them. Msg 3154 · Level 16 · State 4 The backup set holds a backup of a database other than the existing ‘Sales’ database. Msg 3154, Level 16, State 4 RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally. ⚡Restore alongside rather than over the…
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Latest Posts
- SQL Server Login Migration: What Gets Silently Left Behind
- CREATE USER WITHOUT LOGIN vs Contained Database Users
- The sqldba MCP Server: Give Your AI Assistant a Verified SQL Server Reference
- Cannot Resolve the Collation Conflict (Error 468)
- Logical Consistency-Based I/O Error in SQL Server (Errors 823 and 824)
- Cannot Recover the Master Database (Error 3417) and What the Log Actually Says
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