How to: Uninstall an Existing Instance of SQL Server 2005 (Setup)

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Use the following procedure to uninstall an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Note

You must perform the uninstall steps listed here in the exact order given.

Important

To maintain or update a SQL Server instance, you must be a local administrator with permission to log on as a service.

Before you begin, consider the following important information before you uninstall SQL Server 2005:

On a computer running SQL Server 2005 along with previous SQL Server versions, Enterprise Manager and other programs that depend on SQL-DMO may be disabled. This may occur in the following situations:

  • Side-by-side installations of SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2000, and/or SQL Server 7.0, where any of the versions is uninstalled.
  • Side-by-side installations of SQL Server 2000 with SQL Server 2005, where SQL Server 2000 is installed after SQL Server 2005.

This issue is due to removal of the registration for the SQL Server 2005 SQL-DMO COM library. To re-enable Enterprise Manager and other programs with SQL-DMO dependencies, register SQL-DMO by running ‘regsvr32.exe sqldmo.dll’ from a command prompt. For more information, see Troubleshooting an Installation of SQL Server 2005.

Note

Before you remove SQL Server 2005 components from a computer that has the minimum required amount of physical memory you must ensure that the page file size is equal to two times the amount of physical memory. In some situations insufficient virtual memory may result in an incomplete removal of SQL Server 2005.

For information on command prompt syntax, see How to: Install SQL Server 2005 from the Command Prompt.

For information on removing a failover cluster, see How to: Remove a SQL Server 2005 Failover Clustered Instance (Setup).

To remove a SQL Server 2005 instance

  1. To begin the uninstall process, on the Microsoft Windows desktop click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add or Remove Programs.

  2. Select the SQL Server 2005 component to uninstall, and then click Remove. This will start the SQL Server 2005 Installation Wizard.

  3. On the Component Selection - Uninstall page, select any server and/or shared components to remove.

    Click the Report button to view the list of SQL Server 2005 components and features installed on your computer. The report includes version, edition, update level, and language information for each installed component and feature.

    To continue, click Next.

  4. On the Confirmation - Uninstall page, review the list of components and features that will be removed. To continue, click Next.

  5. The Setup Progress page will display Setup status.

  6. On the Completing Setup page, click Finish to exit the Installation Wizard.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Read a SQL Server 2005 Setup Log File

Concepts

How to: View SQL Server 2005 Setup Log Files

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance