Windows installer 4.5 and Sql Server 2005?

Question

I de-installed sql server 2005 express some time ago when I installed sql server 2008 express.

Doing that install required windows installer 4.5.

Now I discover a reason to have sql server 2005 express again.

(to reconnect to the outlook Business Contact Manager which requres it to connect to the default MSSQL\MSSMLBIZ database)

However when i install any version of sql server 2005, it fails for all the important things, like the database engine, with the message that I should upgrade my windows installer to a newer version.

I'm interpreting this as the sql 2005 installer is experiencing failure and is presuming it is because the installer version is incorrect, AND presuming the version is too previous.

But i suspect the version is too subsequent.

Any way out of this?

thanks,

Kimball

Answer 1

The error messages are produced by MSI-based installers are notoriously misleading (most installers silently swallow a lot of error conditions and present one single generic error message.) The best thing you could do is sift through the log files created by the SQL Server 2005 installer (IIRC, they're dumped into the %TMP% directory.) That will certainly provide more information.

You could try to uninstall the KB942288 package (Add/Remove Programs, make sure the Show updates checkbox is checked, and locate the corresponding entry.) Here's the corresponding Microsoft KB article as well. No guarantees as to what this will do to your system though, especially since you've certainly performed a lot of install actions since you installed 4.5.

You could also try one or more of the generic MSI debugging techniques described in KB 555175.