And please try to track the query using SQL Server Profiler to see if can get some clues.
I don't think Amelia is around here any more. I have not seen her for a while.
Anyway, sp_updatestats comes with SQL Server, so you don't have to search for it.
If that does not answer your question, please post a new question and describe your problem from start to end, including which environment you are working in.
I had the same problem - after regularly running large queries, suddenly getting a timeout on some - but not all? - queries.
I tried Tools->Options->Query Execution->SQL Server->General->Execution time-out - changed the value there from 15secs to 600secs - but I had to update the setting in Query>Query Options to fix it properly.
Was it a SSMS update that changed the settings? It's been working fine up until last Thursday (29 July)
15 seconds is a non-default value. Apparently someone had set it to 15 seconds. The normal value is 0 (wait forever).
The setting is a little difficult to change, as you may have noticed. First of all, it does not affect the current window; only new windows opened after the change, but you can change it for an existing window from Query Options as you have noticed. then again, this is true for many settings in SSMS.
But you may find that next time you start SSMS, it is back on 15 seconds! What I found is that if I want to change the setting, and want the change to stick, I need to
Start SSMS.
Go into Tools->Options can change the setting.
Open a new query window.
Close the window that was opened when SSMS started.
Close SSMS.
What is very strange is:
It is only happening on certain servers that I connect to (defatul executrion timeout of 15seconds) but not all - the rest are all at 0 seconds.
The settings for the timeout are different between:
Tools>Options>Query Execution>Execution Time-out (referenced above) --- this value is 0.
Query>Query Options>General>Execution Time-out --- this value is 15.
I've tried udating the value, then closing everyhting down without running any queries, but every time I start SSMS, for these 2 particular servers, the values go back to these defaults above.
II don't have rights on the servers to run sp_updatestats.
Some further digging uncovered the answer for me.
Thanks to :
https://blog.sqlauthority.com/2016/01/26/sql-server-timeout-expired-the-timeout-period-elapsed-prior-to-completion-of-the-operation-or-the-server-is-not-responding/
It's a value set in the server connection settings.
Connect>Database Engine>Options>>>Execution time-out
For both of the servers with which I have had problems, there was a value of 15 seconds stored here.
Why there are two places to set a value for this, and why the two values can be different, I don't know. But at least it's working now for me.
If this value is set within the client rather than on the server then I am very confused as to how this setting of 15 seconds orignated; it certainly wasn't a setting that I updated. Perhaps one of our IT support staff made the change as part of some testing.
Thanks for the update!
The fact that there are two settings may explain the issues that I described in my previous post. I think I may have overlooked that you can set this for the server as well.
And, yes, these values have been set at the client. There is no notion about execution timeouts in SQL Server.
I would guess that if you had typed the server names rather than using the dropdown, you would not have picked up that default of 15 seconds.
