I have been attempting to reinstall Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express after replacing a dying hard drive on a Vista Home Premium SP2 32bit machine. Prior to each reinstall, I try to nuke any trace of previous installations through a combination of the built-in uninstaller, a variety of more powerful tools, and/or manual deletion of program, database and user-specific files, followed by a reboot.
On each attempt, the reinstall either aborts because the program detects an existing instance of the server, or the install completes but the server will not permit me to run applications because it doesn't recognize my permissions. There is only one user account on my machine, set up with full administrative rights, and I always choose the option of installing with SQL server administrator rights (which is not a default in Vista).
Does anyone know of a fix, or of anything I may be overlooking?
On each attempt, the reinstall either aborts because the program detects an existing instance of the server, or the install completes but the server will not permit me to run applications because it doesn't recognize my permissions. There is only one user account on my machine, set up with full administrative rights, and I always choose the option of installing with SQL server administrator rights (which is not a default in Vista).
Does anyone know of a fix, or of anything I may be overlooking?