This article describes how to manually uninstall a stand-alone instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Complete the steps in this article only if you cannot uninstall SQL Server 2005 by using
Add or Remove Programs. For more information about how to use
Add or Remove Programs to uninstall SQL Server 2005, see
How to: Uninstall an Existing Instance of SQL Server 2005 (Setup).
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143412(v=sql.90).aspx)
When you finish the steps in this article, you can reinstall SQL Server.
We recommend that you use
Add or Remove Programs to uninstall SQL Server 2005. However, if an installation fails or if
Add or Remove Programs does not uninstall the instance of SQL Server 2005, follow the steps in this article to uninstall the instance manually.
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SQL Server setup is a complicated process. SQL Server setup modifies lots of registry keys and DLL files. SQL Server setup also installs and updates permission entries and service registrations.
We test SQL Server setup procedures, both installation and uninstallation, in many configurations. However, we cannot test all configurations due to the number of third-party products and customer specific changes that can occur at the operating system level. Therefore, you may encounter rare circumstances that prevent successfully installing or uninstalling SQL Server by using the setup program.
Because of these complexities, the SQL Server Support team may recommend that you reinstall the operating system if the procedures outlined in this article do not help perform a clean uninstall of the SQL Server program. This helps provide a clean platform to reinstall SQL server on your system.
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If you receive the following error message during the SQL Server 2005 Setup process, a SQL Server 2005 component was not uninstalled from the computer:
A component that you have specified in the ADD_LOCAL property is
already installed. To upgrade the existing component, refer to the template.ini
and set the UPGRADE property to the name of the component.
Before you uninstall SQL Server 2005
Back up the data
You may have databases that you want to save in the present state. You may also want to save changes that were made to the default databases. If either case is true, make sure that you have a good backup of the data before you follow the steps in this article. Or, save a copy of all the data and of all the log files. Save these copies in a folder other than the MSSQL folder. The MSSQL folder is deleted as part of the uninstallation process.
The files that you must save include the following database
files. These files are installed as part of SQL Server 2005:
- Distmdl.*
- Master.*
- Mastlog.*
- Model.*
- Modellog.*
- Msdbdata.*
- Msdblog.*
-
Mssqlsystemresource.*
- Northwnd.* (This database is an
optional installation.)
- Pubs.*
- Pubs_log.*
- Tempdb.*
- Templog.*
- ReportServer[$InstanceName]
(This is the Report Server default database.)
-
ReportServer[$InstanceName]TempDB (This is the Report Server default temporary database.)
Delete the local security groups
You must also delete the local security groups for the SQL Server 2005 components. For more information, see the "Setting up Windows service accounts" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online, or see this article on the MSDN website:
Save or rename the SQL Server Reporting Services folders
If you use the SQL Server installation together with SQL Server
Reporting Services, save or rename the following folders and subfolders:
- Default path\Reporting Services
- Default path\MSSQL\Reporting
Services
- Default path\SQL
Server instance name\Reporting Services
- Default path\90\Tools\Reporting
Services
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is a placeholder for %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server. If you used the Reporting Services Configuration tool to configure the installation, the names may differ from the names in this list. Also, the databases may be located on a remote computer that is running SQL Server.
Stop all SQL Server services
We recommend that you stop all SQL Server services before you uninstall the SQL Server 2005 components. Active connections may prevent the uninstallation process from finishing successfully.
Use an account that has the required rights
Log on to the server by using the SQL Server 2005 service account or by using an account that has equivalent rights. For example, log on to the server by using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group.
How to uninstall a stand-alone instance of SQL Server 2005 manually
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This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/
)
How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
Step 1: Make sure that the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component is installed
In Add or Remove Programs, make sure that
Microsoft SQL
Server Setup Support Files appears in the list of installed programs.
If
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files appears in the
list, go to the "Step 2: Run the command to uninstall the SQL Server
components" section.
If
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support
Files does not appear in the list, install this component before you
continue. To install this component, follow these steps:
- Locate the original SQL Server 2005 installation
media.
- To install the support files, double-click the
Servers\setup\sqlsupport.msi file.
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In the "Step 5: Uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component" section, you uninstall this component.
Step 2: Run the command to uninstall the SQL Server components
At a command prompt, run the following command:
"%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\ARPWrapper.exe /Remove"
Uninstall the SQL Server components one at a time
until all the SQL Server components are uninstalled.
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Add or Remove Programs also runs the ARPWrapper.exe program by
using the
/Remove option. However, the reference to the ARPWrapper.exe program may
have been deleted.
If you have uninstalled SQL Server Reporting Services, you must do the following:
Delete the Reporting Services virtual directories
Use Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager to
delete the following virtual directories:
-
ReportServer[$InstanceName
-
Reports[$InstanceName
Delete the ReportServer application pool
Use IIS Manager to delete the ReportServer application
pool.
Error message that you may receive during this step
Click here to view or hide detailed information
If you receive the following error message, go to the "If you
experience problems" section to uninstall the SQL Server redistributed files
and the SQL Server support files:
Registry Enumeration
Failed
You may have an instance that has more than one server. For
example, you may have an instance that has SQL Server 2005 Database Engine, SQL
Server 2005 Analysis Services, and SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. If you
have an instance that has more than one server, the Setup program fails, and
you receive the following error message:
The setup has
encountered an unexpected error in datastore. The action is
RestoreSetupParams.
This error is expected because of
refcounting. A refcount is used to track how many programs use the same .dll
file or the same .msi file. When a program is uninstalled, the program
decrements the refcount for an .msi file by one. When the last program is
uninstalled, the .msi file is deleted. In this case, the .msi file is the
Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component (SqlSupport.msi). If you
receive this error message, use one of the following methods to resolve this
error:
- Reinstall the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files
component (SqlSupport.msi) before you uninstall each component in the
instance.
- Temporarily refcount the SqlSupport.msi file to itself. To
do this, follow these steps:
- Obtain the GUID for the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component. To obtain the GUID, follow steps 1 and 2 from the "If you experience problems" section below.
- Use Registry Editor to create or to modify the
following registry key with these values:
Key Name:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Bootstrap\MSIRefCount
Value: Uninstall
Type: REG_SZ
Data: {11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111},{
GUID}
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Data: {11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111},{53F5C3EE-05ED-4830-994B-50B2F0D50FCE}
If you experience problemsIf you experience problems when you try to uninstall the SQL
Server components, follow these steps:
- Start Registry Editor, and then locate the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
- In the left pane, click each GUID. For each GUID that you
click, look for a display name in the right pane that includes "Microsoft SQL
Server 2005." For example, look for the following names:
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting
Services
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Notification
Services
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration
Services
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Books Online
When you see a display name that includes "Microsoft SQL
Server 2005," note the GUID that you clicked in the left pane. - For each GUID that you noted in step 2, run the following
command at a command prompt:
start /wait msiexec /x {GUID} /l*v c:\sql_uninstall.log
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- In this command, replace GUID with the GUID that you noted in step
2.
- If you receive the following error message, contact
Microsoft Customer Support Services:
The setup has
encountered an unexpected error in datastore.
- Open the following file:
C:\Sql_uninstall.log
Approximately 15 lines from the bottom of the file, locate a line
that resembles the following line: MSI (s) (EC:F8) [12:52:18:007]: Product: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools -- Removal completed successfully.
Step 3: Uninstall the support components
Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall the support components in the following order:
- MSXML 6.0 Parser
- SQLXML4
- Microsoft SQL Server VSS Writer
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility
- Anything else that is related to SQL Server 2005, except for the Microsoft SQL Server Native Client component and the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component
If the process fails for any one of the support components, you may receive the following error message:
Setup failed due to missing prerequisites
If you receive
this error message, follow these steps:
- Start Registry Editor, and then locate the following
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
- In the left pane, click each GUID. For each GUID that you
click, look for a display name in the right pane that matches the name of the
redistributable file. When you see a display name that matches the name of the
redistributable file, note the GUID that you clicked in the left
pane.
- For each GUID that you noted in step 2, run the following
command at a command prompt:
start /wait msiexec /x {GUID} SKIPREDISTPREREQS=1 /l*v c:\sqlredist_uninstall.log
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- Open the following file:
C:\Sqlredist_uninstall.log
At the bottom of the file, locate a line that resembles the following:MSI (s) (EC:F8) [12:52:18:007]: Product: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward compatibility -- Removal completed successfully.
Step 4: Uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Native Client component
If all other steps were successful, uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Native Client component by using Add or Remove Programs.
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Do not uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Native Client component if you have SQL Server 2000 components installed.
Step 5: Uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component
If all other steps were successful, uninstall the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component by using Add or Remove Programs.
If these steps did not uninstall all the components
Click here to view or hide detailed information
If the previous steps did not uninstall all the components, follow these steps:
- In the "How to uninstall a stand-alone instance of SQL Server 2005 manually" section, follow all steps in Step 1: Make sure that the Microsoft SQL Server Setup Support Files component is installed.
- In Add or Remove Programs, uninstall all SQL Server 2005 components in the following order:
- SQL Server 2005
- SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
- SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
- SQL Server 2005 Notification Services
- SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
- SQL Server 2005 Tools
- SQL Server 2005 Books Online
- MSXML 6.0 Parser
- SQLXML4
- SQL Server VSS Writer
- SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility
- Anything else that is related to SQL Server 2005
- SQL Server Native Client
- SQL Server setup support files
If these steps did not uninstall all the components and all files that are related to the instance of SQL Server 2005, contact Microsoft Support.
For more information about how to manually uninstall a SQL Server 2005 failover cluster, see the "How to manually uninstall a SQL Server 2005 failover cluster" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online, or see the following article on the MSDN website:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180973(SQL.90).aspx
(http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms180973(SQL.90).aspx)
For more information about how to uninstall an instance of SQL Server 2000 manually, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article
290991
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290991/
)
How to manually remove SQL Server 2000 default, named, or virtual instance.
Article ID: 909967 - Last Review: March 6, 2013 - Revision: 17.0
Applies to
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard X64 Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition for Itanium-based Systems
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise X64 Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
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