Install SQL Server Express 2005 - but it already exists on the machine

Question

I created a client application that requires SQL Server 2005 Express. Everything worked fine on all machines except one. On this, they already had an application that uses SQL Server Express, so it is already installed on the computer, but no one knows which application uses it or any user names / passwords.

Can I just install another copy in a different folder? This does not seem right to me, and I know that this should be a common scenario. Can someone point me in the right direction, how should I act?

Thanks! Darvis

Answer 1

Yes, you can simply install in a different directory as the new "named instance" of SQL Server Express.

To install, follow step 8 on Microsoft Install How-To :

On the Instance Name page, select the default instance or named instance for your installation. If you select the default instance, the existing default instance will be updated. If you select Named Instance, specify an instance name

So, what you need to do is specify a named instance and provide your instance name, and connect to it using the URL format as described above.

As Microsoft How-To mentions, the default installation is a named instance as well, with the name "SQLExpress", so if you want to stop or start the service with net start or `pure stop 'you need to write something like:

 net start mssql$sqlexpress 

and the part of the host name in the connection string for the instance with the default SQL name:

 .\SQLEXPRESS (or localhost\SQLEXPRESS) 

Answer 2

You should be able to log in using built-in Windows authentication using an administrator type account on your computer, and use it to reset passwords on any logins such as SQL Server.

Otherwise, you must install a "named instance". You connect to it by providing the name "hostname \ instancename" as the server name.

Answer 3

The culprit is probably the Outlook Contact Manager.

You should simply remove the "function". If you cannot, you can create an additional instance of SQL Express that you can access as COMPUTERNAME \ INSTANCENAME.