Here’s the scenario: I have a .BAK file of the database that was hosted on a MSSQL Server 2005 at my previous employers data-center. I need to re-create that database on a hosted MS SQL Server 2005 system at GoDaddy.com. No worries, I thought. I will just create my new database, do a manual back up of it. Then restore it and point it to my .BAK file from the previous server. That concept is old-hat to me, as I’ve done it countless times… on systems that I have complete control and access to. This time it’s on a server that I have limited access to. GoDaddy only permits SQL restores from files that were created by the host system, and stored on it’s local disk. And… I have no rights to place my .BAK file onto the host db server. So, I put on my thinking cap and thunk this one out.

Now, I must fully expose that I am not a SQL DBA in any way, shape, or form. Systems Administration is my background… I can install, configure, and maintain the heck out of a MS SQL database. But, I have extremely limited skills with SQL programming and queries. So, here’s what I came up with:

I have SQL 2005 Express running on my Vista system. Figured I could use that to my advantage here to get the data moved. I’ll break it down into pieces. I have SQL Express connected to my local instance, as well as the remote instance.

• Create a new database (in my local instance, I created a new database… we’ll call it dbFOO)
• Make a back up of dbFOO
• Do a restore of dbFOO, and change it to grab the data from the .BAK file from the old system (this is the step that I would have loved to be able to do on the remote database server)
  • Change the options so that it overwrites the existing database
• On the remote instance, create a new database named dbFOO (db names must be the same since we’re using some queries and we want to limit how much manual editing we need to do)
• On the local instance, right-click on one of the tables and choose “Script Table as… > CREATE To > Clipboard”
• On the remote instance, right-click on the database and choose “New Query”
• In the query window, paste your clipboard contents
  • since your database names are the same, this query will run without issues on the remote instance.
• Execute the query. Boom, the table is now created on the remote instance. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the local instance tables.
  • Tip: keep that query window open, and just replace the sql script with the once for the next table and execute it. A little time-saver.
• Once the tables are created, right-click on the dbFOO database on the remote instance. Choose “Tasks > Import Data”
  • WAIT! SQL Express doesn’t have DTS built in, so how am I able to do this? I once had SQL 2000 Ent. Mgr. installed and I held on to the admin tools, which included DTS. It does spit out some errors when starting up, but I just launch dtswizard.exe and I’m able to use it for my SQL 2005 Express databases.
• Choose the local instance as your source, and your remote instance as your destination. Set up dbFOO as the database, of course.
• Go through all of the wizard steps, choose the option for “copy data from one or more tables or views”.
• Check the boxes for all the tables and make any adjustments. (I had to enable identity inserts)
• Finish the wizard and blam, there is all of the data.

Are there other ways to accomplish what I needed? Maybe so. Is this the most graceful way to accomplish what I needed? Probably not. Do I care? Nope… I got what I needed done. It actually took me longer to write this post than it did to do all the steps listed above.

If you have other ideas or ways that this could have been done, please leave a comment. I love to document this stuff for other out there that could be in the same pickle I was, to give them some ideas or help in their situation.

Windows 2003 Resource Kit has a screen saver that does just what he needed. Check out the Microsoft KB article that describes how to set it all up.

Go to START, then RUN. Enter this command: gpedit.msc
This opens the local system policy, and you’ll find the options you require under:
Local Computer Policy > User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Display

Then change the following four options to set a specific screensaver and lock it:

• Change the option “Screen Saver” to Enabled
• Change the option “Screen Saver Executable Name” to Enabled, and enter the file name of an .scr file (from the Windows directory) in the box labeled “Screen Saver executable name”. For example, to set the screen saver to the logon screen saver, enter “logon.scr”.
• Change the option “Password Protect the Screen Saver” to Enabled (to password protect the screen saver and lock it) or Disabled (to keep password protection from applying to the screen saver and lock it), as necessary.
• Change the option “Screen Saver Timeout” to Enabled, and enter the number of seconds in the box labeled “Seconds”. (10 minutes = 600 seconds)

This will lock changing the screen saver, and set the screen saver options and lock them from being changed.

After trying several modifications to my screen saver properties, I stumbled upon a Windows Update that was listed under the “Windows Ultimate Extras”. It’s listed as Microsoft – Other Hardware – HID Non-User Input Data Filter. After installing that update (no reboot required), the screen saver worked fine.

Check the KB article here.

Vista does not like the forward slash that Lightroom uses when importing using “by date” organization. You can simply double-click on the path within the “organize” box (with the check mark on it), you can modify it and replace it with a backslash. The import should work fine after that.

Cheers! Happy importing!

After some googling, I found this highly useful article out there which provided a link to the U3 site for a removal tool. Works like a normal USB flash drive now… the way it should.

From Thomas:

At present I’ve had my Flickrstream viewed more than 400,000 times. While I’d like to think that it has something to do with my stellar photography there are certainly tips that anyone can use to increase their visibility. Welcome to the Flickr popularity contest.

Read more over at ThomasHawk.com