There are various ways to find duplicates in sql server.

Here are some example SQL Codes for it.

select count(*),description, min(entrytime) as firstbet ,max(entrytime) as lastrecord,
datediff(s,min(entrytime),max(entrytime)) as secondsapart
from mytable with(nolock)
where 1=1
group by description
having count(*) > 2

if more than one record you will need to add more columns to the group by statement

select count(*),firstname,lastname, min(datecreated) as firstbet ,
max(datecreated) as lastrecord,
datediff(s,min(datecreated),max(datecreated)) as secondsapart
from mytable with(nolock)
where 1=1
and datecreated > GETDATE()-130
group by firstname,lastname
having count(*) > 2

the next step is to remove duplicates here is how it can be done...

Here is the code to shrink a bloated log file:

SQL 2005

DBCC SHRINKFILE('<LogFileName>', 1)
BACKUP LOG <DatabaseName> WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY
DBCC SHRINKFILE('<LogFileName>', 1)

SQL 2008

USE <databaseName>
GO

ALTER DATABASE <databaseName> Set Recovery Simple
GO

ALTER DATABASE <databaseName> Set Recovery Full
GO

DBCC SHRINKFILE ('<LogFileName>', 1)
GO

FINDING NAME OF SQL LOG AND DATABASE FILE

To find the logfile and database names you can execute the below procedure

use <databaseName>

exec sp_helpfile

SELECT ROUTINE_NAME, ROUTINE_DEFINITION
    FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES
    WHERE ROUTINE_DEFINITION LIKE '%keyword%'
    AND ROUTINE_TYPE='PROCEDURE'

adding column headers to query analyser 2000 / sql server management studio 2005

tools > options > query results > sql server > results to grid

If you want to update the data in a table by getting information from another table.  You can acheive this by using an update inner join query.

For example if i wanted to update the phone numbers in my table using a list of contacts from a secondary table, the UPDATE INNER JOIN Query would be like the one below:

UPDATE c
SET c.PhoneNumber = c2.PhoneNumber
FROM Contact AS c
INNER JOIN ContactTable2 c2 on c.Id = c2.Id
WHERE DateCreated > GETDATE()-60

Microsoft SQL Server

I have come across this error when using a Indentity In a stored procedure.

In a stored procedure you need to define the scope indentity in a variable before you can use it in a select statement

So instead of

SELECT * FROM table WHERE id = SCOPE_IDENTITY()

You need to use 

SET @var = SCOPE_IDENTITY();

SELECT * FROM table WHERE id = @var

 @@IDENTITY  will return the last indentity across the whole database whilst SCOPE_IDENTITY() will return only the indentity related to the scope of the operation

To get the column names of a table in MSSQL 

SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Columns WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'TableName'

This is basically the MSSQL equivalent for The MySQL Command DESCRIBE TableName which displays the table details

I often use this so i can copy and paste into another query etc.

SELECT Column_Name + ',' FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Columns WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'TableName'

then i have the commas for use in any INSERT or SELECT etc

USING A CUSROR

USING A TEMPORARY TABLE/VARIABLE

  -- Do Operations