Client Components for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise x64 won't install due to Native Client Error

Question

So I got a 64 bit virtual machine running x64 Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with plesk from blacknight.ie. I installed all the updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com apart from group policy, terminal services and windows search. I then tried installing SQL 2005 x64 Enterprise. I tell it to install everything including all the client components, reporting, analysis, integrations etc. It seems to set up everything fine until it gets to the client components where it craps out with the following error (click the link); http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=9.00.1399.06&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&EvtType=packageengine%5cinstallpackageaction.cpp%40InstallToolsAction.11%40sqls%3a%3aInstallPackageAction%3a%3aperform%400x643

Now I had to upload the sql install so I tried md5ing the zip file I put it up with, it was fine. I tried uninstalling native client and reinstalling it, I got the same error.

Possible Causes I can think of Now I see there was some network error or something, I was thinking that maybe it might have been a permissions error, I told it to run the sql server as local system, perhaps I shouldn't have?

Its running on 3/4s of a gig ram and the requirements for sql server is 1gig ram, I'll be upgrading the vps soon, but I'm fairly sure this is not the cause of the problem.

Some sort of 32 bit incompatibility?

The hosting company have some native client thing that just won't go away Perhaps as a result of plesk?

If you want any other information to help solve, please ask, I'll be looking at this thread throughout the day.

edit: still have not solved this

Answer 1

Ok I finally found the solution after soooo much effort.

Turns out I needed to do the following.

Clean out the previous installations including the program files

download and install native client from this url: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/7/c/27c60d49-6dbe-423e-9a9e-1c873f269484/sqlncli_x64.msi

Create two folders SERVERS and TOOLS. Then put disc one into SERVERS and disc 2 into TOOLS. I reran the setup with that configuration and everything worked.

I don't know why this works, it just does, for some reason the mssql install makes use of the tools directory and doesn't complain when its not there.