Troubleshooting SQL Server Setup

SQL Server Setup is designed to be as problem free as possible; however, there may be situations that will interfere with the installation of Microsoft SQL Server. The most common errors are simple to diagnose and resolve. The resolution may involve freeing up disk space, shutting down other applications, or restarting the computer to unlock shared files.

For more information, see SQL Server Books Online.

If the installation fails, the Setup program might remove all installed components.

Before running the Setup program or installing additional SQL Server components, be sure to:

• Shut down all services.

  Use Services in Control Panel to shut down the MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent services. Shut down the MSSearch service if you installed Full-text Search. Shut down the MSDTC service if you installed MS DTC.

• Check that the SQL Server Service Manager icon in the taskbar is closed.

  Any attempt to run the Setup program with the SQL Server Service Manager icon present (or any services still running) may cause the setup process to fail.

• Remove the read-only attribute for all ODBC* files. On computers running Microsoft Windows NT these files are located in the \System32 directory. On computers running Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating systems, these files are located in the system directory.

  If you cannot remove the read-only attribute on the ODBC* files, SQL Server produces a dialog box that allows you to retry the updating of the ODBC* files.

• Understand that servers running Windows NT require Named Pipes. Cleaning named pipes during SQL Server installation does not prevent installation of named pipes. Because servers running Windows NT require named pipes, there is no way to uninstall Named Pipes on a server running Windows NT.