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How to Avoid Several SQL Server Express Installation Problems

I have been answering many SQL Server Express questions on beta newsgroups such as microsoft.private.sqlserver2005.express and microsoft.private.sqlserver2005.setup for some time now. Today I spent some time exploring choices that a new user of SQL Express might make. This post is an attempt to help new users avoid some installation and configuration problems that are, essentially, entirely avoidable.

Many installation problems are caused by versioning problems of the .NET Framework version 2.0 and SQL Express and Express Manager. I dealt with how to minimise some of those issues in a past post, Choosing a version of SQL Server 2005 Express .

This post addresses several problems caused by a choice made (or more probably not made) by a new user on a screen in Setup.

Notice how the Hide Advanced Configuration Options checkbox is checked. I suspect that most newcomers to SQL Server Express will leave it checked. My opinion is that the box should be unchecked by almost all users, while SQL Express is in development.

The option to hide advanced configuration options will make good sense in a few months time when SQL Express is finalised but at the moment it causes unnececessary problems for users.

The following describes some screens which many users (who leave Hide Advanced Configuration Options checked) may never see. The following shows the default install options (seen only after the box is unchecked and Next is clicked).

Notice that no client tools and no documentation are installed.

I suggest that you choose the Entire Feature option, shown in the next figure.

If you select the "Will be installed ..." option then you can end up with some options unchecked, as shown in the following figure.

Unfortunately, a bug in the Setup routine displays the same appearance whether "Entire feature ..." or "Will be installed ..." are chosen. If subnodes are collapsed then the user will be unaware that some options assumed to be installed are not, in fact, selected for installation.

If you miss installing features, SQL Server Express Setup is not fully accessible from Add/Remove Programs. If you have installed no client components then choosing Change in Add/Remove Programs, surprisingly, won't allow you to add them!

So you would be tempted to uninstall and start again, but that too can cause problems that are a story for another day.