Does SQL Server install Visual Studio components

Question: I was looking through Programs installed on a server with SQL Server installed and noticed Visual Studio components installed. As part of a SQL Server installation , which parts of the SQL Server install install the Visual Studio components? Answer: Since the 2016 version , SSMS is now based on the Visual Studio 2015 Shell. You could say SSMS is a Visual Studio Extension. The main reasoning , is the removal of dependency on installing .Net Framework 3.5 and some apparent performance improvements. Note:SSMS is now a standalone installation Useful reading on SSMS How to start SSMS as Administrator... Read more →

How to start SSMS as Administrator

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you are logged onto a server via RDP - and want to start SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) as another local login. I'm not talking about the actual SQL Server login process - but actually starting SSMS as another login. Why would you want to do this? Let's say you've logged onto a server with a particular login - but that login may not have permissions to start SSMS. Or you may have BUILTIN\Administrators enabled on the SQL Server , therefore you may need to initiate SSMS in the context of a... Read more →

Attempted to read or write protected memory.This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt

Question: When attempting to open a table via SSMS 2012 – through the Edit top 200 rows , I get the Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation , Attempted to read or write protected memory.This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt error message How can I fix? Answer: There are a number of potential fixes to this problem 1)Is the SSMs the correct version? In other words is the SSMS a lower version from the target SQL Server? For example – are you attempting to connect to SQL Server 2016 from a SSMS... Read more →

MS SQL 2016 Management Studio Silent Install

As part of SQL Server 2016 installation SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is no longer available by default. It is necessary to manage SSMS as part of a separate installation. This SQL Server 2016 release of SSMS does not require a SQL Server license to install and use. To install a SQL Server 2016 SSMS silent install follow these instructions Step 1- Obtain a copy of the SQL Server 2016 SSMS binaries via Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and place in a location either on the server or a network path. Step 2 – Ensure the security context of... Read more →

Read SQL Server Error Logs with Powershell and SMO

SQL Server troubleshooting and SQL Server problem analysis usually results in a DBA reading the SQL Server Error Logs and other error logs , such as Windows Events Logs. The extent of analysing error logs depends on the problem. I’ve written in previous posts about the necessity to regularly review the SQL Server Error Logs. There is tons of detail or clues about other potential problems , which may not cause an outage today – but if left untreated could cause an outage tomorrow. How to use xp_readerrorlog parameters to search SQL Error Logs ... In a previous post ,... Read more →