FIX: If You Change Windows Security to Windows/SQL Security the SA Password is Blank (274773)

SYMPTOMS

While you install Microsoft SQL Server, if you choose the SQL Server and Windows mode option for Security Authentication, you receive a prompt in which you must enter a password for the system administrator (SA) account. If you install SQL Server with the Windows only mode option, and then you later change the Security Authentication to SQL Server and Windows mode, the SA password is left blank (NULL). When you change this option in the SQL Server Enterprise Manager, there is no method available that allows you to enter a password for the SA account.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290211 INF: How to Obtain the Latest SQL Server 2000 Service Pack

WORKAROUND

You can setup a password for the SA account in SQL Server, prior to changing the security mode from Windows only to SQL Server and Windows, and SQL Server retains the password you have set for the SA account. You can use the sp_password stored procedure to set up a password for the SA account. For example, to set the SA password from NULL to "Test!01", you can use code similar to:

sp_password NULL,'Test!01','sa'

For more information about the sp_password stored procedure, refer to SQL Server Books Online.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in SQL Server 2000. This problem was first corrected in SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1.