Category: Troubleshooting
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Troubleshoot SQL Server Blocking, Step by Step
Blocking isn’t a bug, it’s SQL Server enforcing correctness: one session holds a lock, another wants a conflicting one, and it has to wait. Most blocking resolves in milliseconds and nobody notices. The problem is blocking that doesn’t resolve fast, a query queued behind a session that’s holding a lock far longer than it should,…
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Reading and Fixing a SQL Server Deadlock
🚨Part of the SQL Server Errors series, the exact messages and what actually causes them. Msg 1205 · Level 13 · State 51 Transaction (Process ID 52) was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction. ⚡The engine picked the cheaper transaction to kill, and…
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DBA Scripts: Extended Events Tracing
🔧Part of the DBA-Tools Project, copy/paste SQL Server scripts and health checks.In: Performance & Troubleshooting Ask most DBAs “what’s actually connecting to this server” or “is this database still in use” and you’ll get an opinion, not an answer. SQL Server doesn’t track any of this for you by default, no login history worth trusting,…
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CREATE FILE Encountered Operating System Error (Error 5123)
SQL Server error 5123, CREATE FILE encountered operating system error. Why the service account is refused and how to fix the folder permissions.
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Database Cannot Be Opened Due to Inaccessible Files (Error 945)
SQL Server error 945, database cannot be opened due to inaccessible files. How to find which file stopped it and bring the database back online.
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CREATE DATABASE Permission Denied (Error 262)
SQL Server error 262, CREATE DATABASE permission denied. Which permission is actually missing, who can grant it, and the least-privilege fix.
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SQL Server Transaction Log Full
🚨Part of the SQL Server Errors series, the exact messages and what actually causes them. Msg 9002 · Level 17 · State 2 The transaction log for database ‘YourDb’ is full due to ‘LOG_BACKUP’. Msg 9002, Level 17, State 2 ⚡Check log_reuse_wait_desc first: it names the actual blocker out of about a dozen possibilities, and…
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SQL Server: The Database Is in Single User Mode (Fix)
You try to connect to a database and get: Or you attempt to switch it back to multi-user and receive: This usually happens after maintenance, a restore, or when someone has set the database to SINGLE_USER and not switched it back. In single-user mode, only one connection is allowed at a time. If anything else…
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Hidden Log Performance Problem
VLF count is one of those checks that doesn’t appear in most performance reviews, doesn’t generate an alert, and doesn’t slow down any single query you can point to. It just makes everything involving the transaction log slower than it should be: backups, restores, recovery after a crash, AG synchronisation lag. I’ve seen databases with…
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SQL Server Error Severities Explained
🔍 Looking for a specific error? This page explains what the severity number is telling you and how urgently to react. If you have an actual error message in front of you, the SQL Server Errors Complete Guide has a searchable index of every error covered on this site. Find your error → When SQL…
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Start Here
- DBA Scripts: The Complete Guide
- Run a Full Health Check
- DBA Scripts & Tools
- SSMS: The Complete Guide
- SQL Server Errors: The Complete Guide
- Wait Types Library
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