SQL Server Configuration Manager Password Change Denied

This work around may help if you get an access denied error while changing the password of a SQL Server service account in SQL Server Configuration Manager:

- Select Browse on the account name entry and re-enter the server account name

You should now be able to change the password.

Creating and Storing SQL Passwords

2 great free tools for creating and storing your SQL passwords are:

Creating passwords:
http://www.pctools.com/guides/password

Storing passwords:
http://keepass.info

SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer

Use the following links to download the appropriate SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer for your SQL Server installation.

The SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer will help you understand where your SQL installation differs from Microsoft best practices.

SQL Server 2008 R1 and R2 (June 2010) -  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0fd439d7-4bff-4df7-a52f-9a1be8725591

SQL Server 2005 (August 2008) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DA0531E4-E94C-4991-82FA-F0E3FBD05E63&displaylang=en

SQL Server 2000 (April 2010) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b352eb1f-d3ca-44ee-893e-9e07339c1f22&displaylang=en

Virtual Machine Performance Investigations

This link is a must view if you are investigating or implementing virtual machine performance monitoring:

http://www.msteched.com/2010/NewZealand/SVR313