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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Applying SP2 to SQL Server 2005

One would have thought that applying a Service Pack is an easy job. Well not exactly as I found out. I spend two days trying to apply the patch. 

The main problem as I noticed from the log was that the installer was looking for a .msp file which did not exist.


Solution

Uninstall SQL Server completely using the Windows Installer Cleanup utility - http://support.microsoft.com/KB/290301.

Once all the components of SQL Server have been uninstalled. Install SQL Server from the original source - could be the DVD or the downloaded software. During installation you may get an error about owc11.exe. Uninstallation of this is not possible through the Add/Remove programs in Control Panel. This will have to be uninstalled by using the Windows Installer Cleanup utility. Once this is done re-run SQL Server 2005 setup and it should go through.

After installing SQL Server, install SP2. Hurrah! I had my SQL Server up and running and what was surprising was I found all the databases intact. Obviously, it is still a good idea to backup your databases before trying this out.