How to fix problem installing SQL Express if SQL Server 2005 is already installed

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<updated on June 3, 2005 - changed the product name from "SQL Server Tools Express" to "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools Express Edition CTP" based on the full official name as it appears in Add/Remove Programs>

There is a known setup interaction issue with beta versions of SQL Server 2005 (codename Yukon). There is a conflict between the SQL Tools that are installed with SQL Express 2005 Beta and the SQL Tools that are installed with the full SQL Server 2005 Beta. If SQL Server 2005 Beta with SQL Tools is installed then SQL Express will fail, and vice versa. 

You can workaround this issue by doing one of the following:

Scenario 1 - Install SQL Express first

  1. Install SQL Express (as a standalone product or as a part of VS 2005 beta setup)
  2. Go to Add/Remove Programs and remove the product named Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools Express Edition CTP
  3. Install SQL Server 2005 Beta with SQL Tools

Scenario 2 - Install SQL Server 2005 Beta first

  1. Install SQL Server 2005 Beta without SQL Tools
  2. Install SQL Express (as a standalone product or as a part of VS 2005 beta setup)
  3. Go to Add/Remove Programs and remove the product named Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tools Express Edition CTP
  4. Re-run SQL Server 2005 Beta setup and select SQL Tools

This workaround should work for the version of SQL Express that is included with VS 2005 beta 1 and VS 2005 beta 2. This scenario is a known issue that the SQL team is planning to address before SQL Server 2005 releases.