Invalid Descriptor Index error solved ( Replication )
This has been driving me mad ( ok really grumpy !! ) it's such a vague error - After installing replication the distribution agent failed with this error message.
So thanks to Raymond Mak I found out that the sp had not updated the template mdf and ldf file for the distribution database - this meant the version of the distribution was at rtm vs the sp4 level of the user databases - this gives the error. I copied the files from another install to test but will have to re-apply the service pack.
So big worry now, if the sp doesn't always get it right, what else does it miss? The advice for this error had always been to re-apply the servcie pack ( 2 and 3 ) so it appears to be a consistant problem, although possibly isolated. So should a first stage step when having sql problems be to always re-apply the last service pack or rollup?