SQL Server Q&A

Symptoms
When you attempt to shrink a database, SQL Server might stop with a Fatal Exception, multiple 816 errors, and a stack dump in the errorlog.
Resolution
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
254561?(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254561/) INF: How to Obtain Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0For more information, contact your primary support provider.

Symptoms
A restore of the msdb system database leaves the database in a loading state (unrecovered) and changes in the differential and log backups are not applied if the following conditions are true:The restore is performed from Enterprise Manager (SEM).The restore operation is a combination of:
A full database backup and a differential backup.A full database backup and transaction log backups.A full database backup and a combination of differential and transaction log backups.NOTE: To perform transaction log backups of the msdb database in SQL Server 2000, you must change the recovery model to “bulk logged” or “full.” In SQL Server 7.0, you must have the “trunc. log on chkpt.” setting turned off for the msdb database.
Resolution
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in theMicrosoft Knowledge Base:
301511?(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301511/EN-US/) INF: How to Obtain the Latest SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack

Symptoms
When you create a parameterized command against Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, if you call the Prepare method before you add parameters to the command, you receive the following error message:

An unhandled exception of type ‘System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException’ occurred in system.data.dll.
Additional information: System error. This problem does not occur in SQL Server 2000.
Resolution
This problem occurs in SQL Server 7.0 because, by design, you cannot run the Prepare method before you add parameters. This applies to most database systems.
SQL Server 2000 does not generate the above-mentioned exception because it does not run Prepare until the first command is executed. This optimization prevents the overhead of Prepare if no commands are subsequently executed.