Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Error installing SQL Server 2005 editions on Windows VISTA

There are numerous posts regarding this error when installing SQL Server 2005 on Windows Vista RTM thus I am starting a new thread in order to get resolution one way or another:

SQL Server Setup failed to execute a command for server configuration. The error was [SQL Native Client]Windows user or group "\USERNAME\SQLServer2005MSFTEUser$USERNAME$MSSQLSERVER" not found. Check the name again...

The error occurs when installing SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition, SQL Server Express SP1, SQL Server Express SP2 CTR (with or without the SP2 Toolkit package installed beforehand). The error occurs with or without UAC.

The installation then fails. Please advise if you have any insights. SQL Server Express SP2 CTR was announced as a workable version for Vista... note that this is not the case.

I am just stating that I have the same problem.

|||

This is a problem on Vista if case sensitive collation is chosen and Windows computer name includes lower case characters.

Possible workarounds:

1. Change the computer name with upper case.

Since Vista does not allow to change a computer name to the same name with only case difference, this workaround requires two steps, changing to the different name first (ComputerName to ComputerNameX for example) and then changing to the original name with upper case (ComputerNameX -> COMPUTERNAME).

2. Change the collation that the customer's product uses from case sensitive (including binary) to case insensitive.

|||

Well thanks. That has worked

Microsoft really must make this a little more public so other people don't jump in this hole

|||

Some one at Microsoft connect has just confirmed that this is a known error.

quote "Also there is a known issue with install SP2 on Vista machines where the Machine name has lower case letters or other 'special' characters and you are using the non-default collation "

In fact, as we know, its a propblem with the install whatever service pack.

|||Milos,

Thank you. That worked correctly.

Considering the time that has been and is likely to continue to be frustratingly wasted by a great number of people, I agree that this mixed computer name case issue should be better documented. If only I could get the past 2 days of my life back.

Thanks again.|||SQL Server 2005 SP2 isn't released yet, and Microsoft has stated (repeatedly) that non-SP2 installs are not supported on Vista.|||

No, in fact Microsoft state that SQL Server 2005 is not supported on Vista without SP2.

I had downloaded the beta release of the service pack ready to apply but in order to apply the service pack, guess what? - you have to install the base version of the software!

So next time think before you make unhelpful and supercilious remarks.

|||

Understood - I think we're saying the same thing.

Also, it should be noted that you can *install* the software, it just isn't *supported* without SP2. That's because there are some changes in SP2 that make it work properly within the environment. Yes, you will still have to install the base package.

You'll notice in the readme file that comes with SP2 that it will have specific instructions for Vista installs, which is why I made these comments - which I think are both helpful and non-supercillious. No harm intended, I think you misunderstood my post.

|||Thank you for your comments. I could never get SQL Server 2005 installed on VISTA in order to apply the SP2. The setup would crash near the very end of the base installation as the SQL Server Native configuration string update could not discriminate between mixed case computer names when binary sort order was selected.

This was a very difficult problem to work through as the primary documentation discussing SQL Server and Vista stated that SQL Server SP2 was required. However, to apply SQL Server SP2 you had to get SQL Server installed. Thus, the catch 22 for those who were trying to install SQL Server 2005 using the new binary sort order option.

Right now, it seems that many of the bug fixes are found only by posting to newsgroups or forums such as this. People at Microsoft knew of this particular binary mixed computer name configuration string error and were likely fixing this in SP2, etc. However, the public didn't and thus we spent days of wasted frustrated time simply to get an error at the very end of the SQL Server setup procedure. Wouldn't it make sense for Microsoft to add on to the MSDN knowledge base "bug snippets" such as found in this forum itself. So instead of having days of human life wasted in installation frustration, one could do a search in MSDN online for the error message that I posted above, and the solution (as found above by the kind person) would be presented?|||

I hear you. I've spent lots of time on things only to find out later that someone had the info to help me all along! I think in Microsoft's defense that they haven't released patches for this issue yet, so they are working on not having to document them. If it turns out that you have to "work your way around" something, we want to make sure that we document it correctly, in the 9 languages we support, and subject to the legal and other rules we face in hundreds of countries around the world, and then test on the thousands of systems (SAP, custom apps, clustering, PDA's, replication, etc.) that we run on. That takes time, which is why we're asking for patience as we work through the issues.

The danger of posting something before we are done working on it is that it might "live" after the correct procedure is developed when the product is actually supported on Vista. Then we run into the problem of people possibly damaging their systems using a workaround for a problem we've corrected another way. So in effect, we're kind of in a catch-22 as well!

Luckily, Microsoft hosts these forums for exactly this reason. It give all of us DBAs a chance to hash this out in an informal setting, and helps the company feel the pain points of its customers. This lets us fix the problems before we support the product. These posts are VERY valuable, and we thank you all for making them. We're here to help.

|||

The funny part of this is that the day you posted this complaint is the same day Microsoft published the KB article on the topic.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929105 (Yes, it is about express but the concept is the same)

Chill out.. Microsoft is not some conglomerate conspiracy trying to screw the people that use thier software. That would be counter intuitive.

Since people are so trigger happy to sue the *** out of Microsoft whenever they misspell a word or misstate a concept it takes them time to edit/approve/audit the items that are published. Its the price of being a large company.

-David Sandor

|||This worked after changing the computer name to all caps (very offensive) and removing non-standard characters (like Underscore) when installed a case senitive collations are used. Of course I like to use things like Spaces in my tables and procedures! I would like to be able to use spaces in computer names as well, but then I just name the computer after what it is. I was finally able to get the software to install.|||

Hi every body,

I have also the same problem.

Perhaps what you said is the solution, but I think that the persons - loke me- who have windows vista must first get the "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services Service Pack 2 "

on this web adress http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5b5528b9-13e1-4db9-a3fc-82116d598c3d

I'm working on it right now.. And I hope that will resolve my problems.

Any way If I know that Vista is - for the moment - so in his own glob like a mystic person - I would never buy it...!

Sincerely,

RAF

|||

Hi every body,

I have also the same problem.

Perhaps what you said is the solution, but I think that the persons - like me- who have windows vista must first get the "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services Service Pack 2 "

on this web adress http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5b5528b9-13e1-4db9-a3fc-82116d598c3d

I'm working on it right now.. And I hope that will resolve my problems.

Any way If I know that Vista is - for the moment - so in his own glob like a mystic person - I would never buy it...!

Sincerely,

RAF

No comments:

Post a Comment