How can I delete duplicate rows in a table

Question

I have a table with say 3 columns. There\'s no primary key so there can be duplicate rows. I need to just keep one and delete the others. Any idea how to do this is Sql Serv

Answer 1

Manrico Corazzi - I specialize in Oracle, not MS SQL, so you'll have to tell me if this is possible as a performance boost:-

1. Leave the same as your first step - insert distinct values into TABLE2 from TABLE1.
2. Drop TABLE1. (Drop should be faster than delete I assume, much as truncate is faster than delete).
3. Rename TABLE2 as TABLE1 (saves you time, as you're renaming an object rather than copying data from one table to another).