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Diagnosing setup problems with SQL Server 2005 April CTP

This post is intended to set out the basic information needed to best be able to help questioners on the microsoft.private.sqlserver2005.* newsgroups who are having install problems with the April CTP of SQL Server 2005.

If possible, in all the following items please use version numbers where available. Names, such as "Beta 2", are ambiguous with SQL Server 2005 since they were not uniformly updated in all places in some earlier CTPs. Using names in problem reports introduces the potential for ambiguity. Numbers, if available, are unambiguous.

The following items can all be important in understanding the situation on your machine. Omitting any of items 1. to 7. introduces ambiguity into the report.

1. Are you attempting to install Developer Edition or Express Edition ? Some issues differ between editions.
2. Which operating system and service pack you are using . Some problems differ for different operating systems or service packs.
3. The error message(s) you received and at what point you received them.
4. Whether you are installing after uninstalling a previous build or not I will use the term "clean build" to refer to machines with no previous builds of any of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 or .NET Framework 2.0 since last operating system install. Knowing whether or not there was a previous install can be crucial. If others use the machine, please check that they didn't briefly install an earlier build.
5. If not a "clean build" what uninstall steps you took . This is important to help us understand what changes you may have made and what problems you may have caused. If using a tool like Build Uninstall Wizard we can estimate its effects in a particular set of circumstances.
6. What is visible in Add/Remove Programs that refers to .NET Framework 2.0, SQL, XML or Visual Studio. Relevant items are not listed entirely alphabetically in a neat group, so please check all of Add/Remove programs.
7. Content of the folder C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework . The interesting item(s) are any folders with a name of the form v2.0.XXXXX. Knowing whether there is one or more and what the XXXXX is on your machine is important. It is not the same information as you get from Add/Remove Programs.
8. Content of Summary.Txt . This will be contained in a directory such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG. The relevant parts are the sections where there is anything in the "Install" line other than "Install:Successful". Please list all sections where "Install" is anything other than "Successful". I would suggest that you don't routinely post in an initial question the potentially lengthy log files referenced from Summary.txt.
9. Connecting remotely or locally? . If you have a connection problem it helps to know if you are connecting locally or remotely. The potential issues are not the same.

There are many factors that can impact a symptom. Putting the relevant parts of the above information in your question increases the chances of a helpful answer first time.