In this article I want to tell you about some problems, which you can have

when you install SQL Server 7.0, and how you can resolve these problems.

If you have problems with installation, check the following:

1. Check the hardware requirements.

You should have:

• Alpha AXP, Intel or compatible platform

• Pentium 166 MHz or higher (Pentium Pro, Pentium II and compatible)

• 32MB RAM (minimum), 64MB RAM and more (recommended)

• 180MB (full installation), 170MB (typical), 65MB (minimum),

    90MB (management tools only) plus 50MB for OLAP Services

    and 12MB for the English Query

2. Check the software requirements.

You should have:

For Desktop Edition:

• Windows 95

• Windows 95 OSR2

• Windows 98

• Windows NT Server/Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 4

• Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition

• Windows 2000 (all editions)

For Standard Edition:

• Windows NT Server 4.0 with Service Pack 4

• Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition

• Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server/Datacenter

For Enterprise Edition:

• Windows NT Server Enterprise Edition

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server/Datacenter

3. Check the hardware compatibility list.

For more information about the specific supported hardware, look at the

hardware compatibility list at

http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/hcl/

4. Login with the administrator level permissions on the machine.

SQL Server needs these permissions to create registry entries, create

services and so on.

5. Check that network card or Microsoft loopback adapter presents

on the machine.

SQL Server needs to use network functionality, so you should have

network card, or dummy driver Microsoft loopback adapter, which

pretends to be a network card 🙂

6. Use the LocalSystem account for MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent

services.

You can change it later to appropriate account, and you will have more

chance to install SQL Server without problems.

7. Before reinstall SQL Server 7.0, delete the following registry

entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSSQLServer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SQLServerAgent
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server 7
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServ70

and delete the target installation directory (C:\MSSQL7 by default).

8. For upgrade from version 6.5, check that the default database for

the login 'sa' is master.

9. You can stop some services, which can cause installation failure.

Stop the following services/close the following programs:

• IIS - Internet Information Server

• PWS - Personal Web Server

• Exchange Server

• SNA Server

• Disk Keeper

• SNMP Service

For more details see:

Troubleshooting SQL Installation and Connection Problems

Are there any extraneous services running, and do you have

network connectivity?

http://support.microsoft.com/support/SQL/Content/setup/setup1.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=SO&FR=0

10. For upgrade from MSDE to SQL Server 7.0, maybe necessary to edit

some registry entries.

If you receive the following error:

You cannot install a version which is older (7.00.623) than the

version on your machine (7.00.677). Uninstall the older version.

then you should amend

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/MSSQLServer/MSSQLServer/CurrentVersion

to have a value of 7.00.623.

For more details see:

Q234915 - FIX: Upgrade to SQL Server Fails When MSDE Installed from MOD

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q234/9/15.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=SO&FR=0

11. For more details about installation errors see the following

files:

• sqlstp.log (located in your \Windows or \WinNT directory)

• errorlog file (located in the \MSSQL7\Log directory)

• cnfgsvr.out file (located in the \MSSQL7\Install directory)