There is an extra step that you need to take when upgrading from one edition of SQL Server 2008 to another, for example when upgrading from Express to Express with Tools. This extra step is called Edition Upgrade (sometimes SKU Upgrade) and the net result is that you have to run the install wizard twice when upgrading an existing instance to a ...

I've gotten a number of questions recently asking how SQL Express uses resources during idle time, and how that behavior impacts the way SQL Express behaves ''on first connection'' after being idle for a period of time. While many of these questions have been related to web hosting, the behavior is a general behavior for SQL Express, so I'll ...

Now that SQL Server 2005 SP2 has been released I thought I should make good on my promise to explain more about how we handle Windows Vista User Access Control in SQL Express SP2. I explained earlier that UAC works by removing the administrator ACEs from your User Token when you are a member of the Builtin\Administrators group. This effectively ...