Is your SQL Server 2005 surprisingly slow? It maybe because server trace runs on your server though you never started it! It comes out that 'default trace enabled' setting is turned on (1) by default during SQL Server 2005 installation. In order to verify it you can execute:
select * from sys.configurations where configuration_id = 1568
In order to check whether you have active traces runnig, execute:
select * from ::fn_trace_getinfo(0)
If you have active traces (you'll see trace IDs and paths to .trc files), you can stop them in the following way: for each active trace ID execute (stop trace at first step and clear trace definition from the server at a second):
exec sp_trace_setstatus ActiveTraceID, 0
exec sp_trace_setstatus ActiveTraceID, 2
On the other hand, this trace is very light and according to BOL also useful: BOL states, that "Default trace provides troubleshooting assistance to database administrators by ensuring that they have the log data necessary to diagnose problems the first time they occur." Also if you turn off the trace, you won't have the option to debug stored procedures from Management Studio 2005.
Via: Alex Lerner (SRL Tech Ltd.)