Rolling my own Install w/ MSDE

[Guest]

I rolled my own install that checks to see if SQL server is there like so
Dim svc As ServiceProcess.ServiceControlle
Tr
svc = New ServiceProcess.ServiceController("MSSQLServer"
Catch ex As Exceptio
Return ValRetCodes.NotInstalle
Exit Functio
End Tr

Dim startDate As DateTim
If Not IsNothing(svc) The
..
Els
Return ValRetCodes.NotInstalle
End I

Problem... on one user's box it runs, starts MSDE's install, but stops because it found datafiles
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data\master.md
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Data\mastlog.ld

So my check was fruitless. Is MSDE installed? Is SQL installed? What's a better way to check, and if it's installed, how can I use it for my database, or should I?

 

[Tian Min Huang]

Hello,

Thanks for your post. Generally speaking, we check the SQL Service to
determine if SQL Server or MSDE is installed or not just like you are
doing. I suspect that the user's box which contains datafiles may be caused
by an incomplete uninstallation of SQL Server or MSDE. Please correct me if
there is any misunderstanding.

If you will always install MSDE to a specific folder, I suggest that you
can also check and delete that folder before installing MSDE in order to
prevent this issue.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

HuangTM
Microsoft Online Partner Support
MCSE/MCSD

Get Secure! -- www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights.

 

[Tian Min Huang]

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt response. As you know, we can install multiple
Windows systems on a single machine, each may have SQL Server installed.
So, I strongly recommend to prompt a dialog for user to confirm before
deleting the SQL folder in case it is for another system.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

HuangTM
Microsoft Online Partner Support
MCSE/MCSD

Get Secure! -- www.microsoft.com/security
This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I'll prompt them as you suggest, but I'll rename the folder, Just In Case. If you don't hear from me, consider this resolved.