I tried to install SQL Server Management Studio Express 2008 today.
Going through that install process gives me a taste of the cruel world DBAs live in. I feel bad for those guys. No wonder they're frazzled and grumpy.
I went to the SMSSE download page and was informed after downloading the program that I need to go to the Windows Installer 4.5 page and install the installer so that I could run the SQL Server Installer. My head hurts.
After reading tea leaves and conjuring up spirits with the Ouija board, I figured out how to install the Windows Installer. At this point my morning took a turn. After dutifully restarting my computer, I ran the SMSSE installation process to have it tell me that my computer needed to be restarted before I could install SQL Server 2008. It didn't matter how many times I restarted my PC, it still failed to install. I summed it up in a Twitter Post:
After searching the internet, I found the answer in a Microsoft Support Forum:
- Click 'Start' -> Run...
- Type: Regedit, hit enter.
- Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations
- Right click PendingFileRenameOperations and click Modify.
- Delete the value for PendingFileRenameOperations.
- Close the Registry Editor, the issue should be fixed.
After you're finished, it should look like this:
In my case, it did and I was able to install SMSSE, just with a little less hair.