SQL Express 2005 installation

by Dan Matthews 26. April 2007 09:33

When installing SQL Server Express 2005, you may get an error saying something like:

An installation package for the product Microsoft SQL Server Native Client cannot be found. Try the installation again using a valid copy of the installation package 'sqlncli.msi'.

Irritatingly, it only says this after the installation file has already extracted, installed support files, checked the system, checked pre-reqs, initialised main installation, prompted you for config and installed a bunch of things (which it then rolls back). It's 5-10 mins until you get the error and there's no 'retry'.

Anyway, at least it's easy to fix :) I read a couple of articles on Microsoft and MSDN Forums which weren't THAT helpful. They seem to contain too much info. I found that I could fix the error by doing this (note - I was installing on a box which already had full SQL2000 installed... it might well not work if you are installing 'clean')

Extract the SQL Express MSI to a temp folder. (SQLEXPR32.EXE /X:TEMPFOLDER). Then find the "SQLNCLI.MSI" file that it extracted into the 'Setup' folder. Run it, and when prompted, choose to Repair the installation. Now re-run the SQL Express installation, and it should work fine!

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Comments

5/26/2007 7:46:13 PM #

Dan,
     You rock! I have been scatching my head for hour trying to figure this out. Like you, I found a couple of hits that gave overly detailed descriptions on how to correct the problem. Your solution was straight to the point and I was back in business in a matter of minutes. I wonder why none of the other sources didn't just come out and say what you did. Thank you very much!

Robert Goodell |

11/23/2008 1:41:03 PM #

sqlncli.msi

montet |

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