(Excerpt)Troubleshooting SQL Server 2005 Management Studio

If you have problems with SQL Server 2005 Management Studio, review this troubleshooting checklist
to find potential solutions.

1. Install the latest SQL Server 2005 service pack.

Because some SQL Server 2005 Management Studio bugs were fixed in SQL Server service packs,
you should install the latest SQL Server service pack.
At the time this article was wrote the latest SQL Server 2005 service pack was service pack 2.
Check this page to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089/

2. SQL Server Management Studio unexpectedly closes when you click "Build Query"
in the "Execute SQL Task Properties" dialog box of the SQL Server 2000 DTS
package designer.

This problem occurs when SQL Server 2000 client tools were not installed on the SQL Server 2005
machine. To work around this problem, you should install the SQL Server 2000 client tools.

3. SQL Server Management Studio may cause an error message when you update a row
of a table in SQL Server 2005 by right-clicking the name of the table, and then
clicking "Open Table" in the Object Explorer.

This problem occurs when the table does not contain a primary key and the table contains one or
more columns of the text or ntext data type. To work around this problem, you should create a new
query window in SQL Server Management Studio and then use a SQL UPDATE statement to update the
row in the table. To resolve this problem, create a primary key in the table.

4. You may receive the error message "Input string was not in a correct format"
when you start SQL Server Management Studio.

This problem occurs in SQL Server 2005 when the value of the following registry key is not empty
or is set to an invalid value: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\sPositiveSign
To work around this problem, you can simply remove the value of this registry key.

5. SQL Server Management Studio may cause the error message "Unhandled exception
has occurred in a component in your application".

This problem occurs when SQL Server 2005 Express Edition installed on the same computer with the
SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition or SQL Server 2005 Enterprise
Edition. The Mru.dat file that is installed by SQL Server 2005 Express Edition causes the error
message. To resolve this problem, you can remove the Mru.dat file from the following folder:
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Shell

6. You may receive error message "Object reference not set to an instance of an object"
when you use SQL Server Management Studio to create the maintenance plan that
contains a Back Up Database task.

This problem occurs in SQL Server 2005 service pack 2 when you use Differential or Transaction Log
backup and select "All databases" for the Database(s) option. To work around this problem, you
can set Back Up Database task for the specified databases, not for all databases. To resolve this
problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

7. You may receive error message "Internal error. An unexpected exception occurred"
when you run an MDX statement in SQL Server Management Studio to query data from
a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services database.

This problem occurs in SQL Server 2005 when you use a DROP SET statement to remove a named set
that was created as a session-scoped named set. This bug was fixed in SQL Server 2005 service
pack 1. To resolve this problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

8. The error message "System.OutOfMemoryException" may occur when you try
to connect to SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services from Object Explorer in
SQL Server Management Studio.

This problem occurs when the database on the server that is running Analysis Services has many
cubes, partitions, aggregations, or dimensions. This bug was fixed in SQL Server 2005 service
pack 2. To resolve this problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

9. The error 8152 may occur when you try to edit a SQL Server Agent job or a
maintenance plan by using SQL Server Management Studio.

The error 8152 indicates that string or binary data would be truncated. This problem occurs when
the name of the instance of SQL Server 2005 is longer than 30 characters. To resolve this problem,
install the latest SQL Server service pack.

10. You may receive error message "An error occurred while executing batch" when
you use SQL Server Management Studio to query data from a column of the XML
data type or from a variable of the XML data type.

This problem occurs when you to try to retrieve lots of XML data. To work around this problem,
you can drop the XML schema validation from the column of the XML data type or from the variable
of the XML data type. To resolve this problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

11. If you use SQL Server Management Studio in SQL Server 2005 to connect to an
instance of SQL Server 2008, you receive the following error message:
"Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation" when you open
or delete a maintenance plan.

To work around this problem, you should install SQL Server Management Studio in SQL Server 2008.

12. You may receive the error message when you copy a database from an instance
of SQL Server 2008 to an instance of SQL Server 2005.

This problem occurs when you use SQL Server Management Studio in SQL Server 2005 to connect to an
instance of SQL Server 2008. To work around this problem, you should install SQL Server Management
Studio in SQL Server 2008.

13. You may unexpectedly receive a series of messages when you use Object Explorer
in SQL Server Management Studio to restart SQL Server 2005.

This problem occurs when both SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 are installed on the same
server and when you restart SQL Server by right-clicking the server name in Object Explorer and
then clicking Restart. This bug was fixed in SQL Server 2005 service pack 1. To work around this
problem, you can use the SQL Server Configuration Manager to restart SQL Server 2005. To resolve
this problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

14. You may receive error messages when you use SQL Server Management Studio
after you install Excel 2007 on a computer that has SQL Server 2005
Analysis Services installed.

This problem occurs because a newer version of the Msmgdsrv.dll file is installed when you install
Excel 2007, and the newer version of this file is incompatible with the older version that is used
by the SQL Server Management Studio. This bug was fixed in SQL Server 2005 service pack 2. To
resolve this problem, install the latest SQL Server service pack.

15. When you create or modify a SQL Server Agent job in SQL Server Management Studio
for an instance of SQL Server 2000, you may receive error message.

This problem occurs when you connect to the instance of SQL Server 2000 by using an account
that is not a member of the SQL Server sysadmin fixed server role. To work around this problem,
you can connect to an instance of SQL Server 2000 by using an account that is a member of the
sysadmin fixed server role in SQL Server 2000 or you can manage the SQL Server Agent job by
using SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Manager.