Note: This is a repost from an another blog of mine that was located at the SharePoint Blogs. It recently had a huge hardware failure and many blogs got lost. Since I didn’t have much posts there, I’ll just repost this most popular/useful entry here for future reference.
I tried to install WSS v3 and for some reason I didn’t choose the Advanced / Web Fronted-setup in the beginning so the installer installed the SQL Server 2005 Embedded Edition. I wanted to use an existing instance of SQL Server 2005 so I had to uninstall the WSS v3 and the SQL Server EE before reinstalling.
The problem is that you can’t uninstall the SQL Server 2005 EE from the Control Panel, but it is a hidden instance. Fortunately there is a solution, which I found with a simple search (source link is dead, so I removed it):
To uninstall SSEE:
Start Registry Editor, and then locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UninstallIn the left pane, click each GUID.
For each GUID that you click, look for a display name in the right pane that matches “Microsoft SQL 2005 Embedded Edition…”.When you see a display name that matches the name, copy the value of the Key named “UninstallString”
Open a Command-Window (Start->run->cmd)
Paste the Copied string.
Append “CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE” eg “MsiExec.exe /X{BDD79957-5801-4A2D-B09E-852E7FA64D01} CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE”There you go
Don’t forget to reboot.
Hope that helps
Patrick
Yes, it helped. Thanks, Patrick 
October 25, 2007 at 19:31 |
I get a “invalid switch” error.
I copied the value over from the Uninstall String. I used
Append “MsiExec.exe /X{CEB5780F-1A70-44A9-850F-DE6C4F6AA8FB} CallerID=OCSETUP.EXE”
October 26, 2007 at 08:54 |
Jeremiah,
Make sure that there is a space between the /X-parameter ant the GUID:
“MsiExec /X {CEB….”
-Jemm
February 3, 2008 at 12:37 |
Thank you Patrik! very helpful!
April 25, 2008 at 17:48 |
Dont forget to delete/cleanup the junk left in C:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL.
July 10, 2008 at 15:49 |
[...] …or uninstall unnecessary instances, including hidden ones [...]
August 12, 2008 at 21:16 |
Thank you!!!!
September 10, 2008 at 12:52 |
I have the same problem , I tried to do what do u explained here//but is not working , please see if there is a mistake//
I open the cmd//& I wrote
CALLERI=MsiExec.exe / I{20608BFA-6068-48FE-A410-400F2A124C27}
please tell me if is the rigth syntax
thank u
September 10, 2008 at 13:01 |
@Alan:
Try running this in CMD:
“MsiExec.exe /X {20608BFA-6068-48FE-A410-400F2A124C27}CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE”
December 18, 2008 at 12:30 |
Thank you!!!!
January 28, 2009 at 17:54 |
[...] Append “CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE” eg “MsiExec.exe /X{BDD79957-5801-4A2D-B09E-852E7FA64D01} CALLERID=OCSETUP.EXE” http://blog.jemm.net/2007/08/06/how-to-uninstall-sql-server-2005-embedded-edition [...]
February 17, 2009 at 00:16 |
Thanks man, you saved my day!!
Eric
February 22, 2009 at 01:32 |
I tried using Microsoft support to remove my SQL server 2005 as its giving me a problem with a recent update (i also don’t need it anymore):
——————————-
Security Update for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (KB960089)
Download size: 33.1 MB
You may need to restart your computer for this update to take effect.
Update type: Important
A security issue has been identified in the SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 that could allow an attacker to compromise your system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
More information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960089
Help and Support:
http://support.microsoft.com
——————————-
but the process is too complicated and it keeps failing..
Please help me remove this update or if you could give me another solution , I would be very grateful.
Thanks,
Prashanth
February 22, 2009 at 01:43 |
Hi,
I solved the problem by going through your other posts.
http://blog.jemm.net/2008/07/09/sql-server-2005-security-update-kb948109-fails-to-install-with-error-code-0×773f-how-to-fix/
I had to start all the services with the name as SQL Express …
Thanks a lot !
Prashanth
April 16, 2009 at 15:51 |
THANK YOU!!!
February 11, 2010 at 19:40 |
THANKS! Worked like a champ
March 7, 2010 at 05:12 |
Hello, I came across this post while looking for help with Microsoft Silverlight. I have recently switched browsers from Google Chrome to Microsoft IE 6. Just recently I seem to have a problem with loading sites that have Microsoft Silverlight. Every time I browse website that needs Microsoft Silverlight, my computer doesn’t load and I get a “npctrl.dll” error. I cannot seem to find out how to fix it. Any help getting Microsoft Silverlight to function is very appreciated! Thanks