SQL Server Express WebLog

There are a lot of people downloading and installing SQL Server Express. One of the common questions we get is “What should I do next?” We’ve worked hard creating a great product that easy to use, free to download and distribute, and bundled with good...

In some cases on a non-English OS, the SQL Server Service will fail to start. The workaround for this problem is to run the service as Local System or a Domain user account and not the Network Service Account (which is set if you do a default installation...

“SQL Server 2005 Express October CTP” is the first community technology preview release of SQL Express 2005 post Beta2. The instructions and corresponding CTP executable can be downloaded from here . CTP is our way of providing the latest bits of SQL...

The problem of data not being saved is usually the result the Copy to output directory property of the database file. The Copy to output directory property controls if and when a file is copied during deployment of a VS application, including when you...

If you attended the Access to SQL Express migration webcast that I gave back on May 1 ,2006, I've finally gotten around to cleaning up the Q&A and posting it. You can find it here . For those of you who missed it, you can check it out on demand...

We've just released a new white paper that discribes Management Studio Express and gives some of the basics of database administration. You can download the paper from http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/f/8/4f8f2dc9-a9a7-4b68-98cb-163482c95e0b/MgSQLExpwSSMSE...

The SQL Server team recently released eight new SQL Server 2005 Report Packs for download . Use the Report Packs as way to get up and running on Reporting Services in SQL Server 2005 Express. The Report Packs include sample reports and databases for views...

In an effort to continually improve SQL Express, I am curious to know if you have run into setup and configuration issues. We are in the process of product planning and would love to hear your stories good or bad on this experience as well as any constructive...

If you don't frequent Euan Garden's BLOG and you're interested in a history lesson on the Workload Governor in MSDE (and the fact that it doesn't existin in SQL Express), you should check out his recent post on the subject. http://blogs.msdn.com/euanga...

The November CTP of SQL Express SP2 is available at a download center near you. As I've written before , SQL Express SP1 has a few known issues when running on Windows Vista, SP2 is where we've addressed these issues and is what we recommend using for...

Our web hosting team within SQL Server has reached another milestone with the second CTP of the Database Publishing Wizard. Congratulations to the team! Here is the announcements in their own words explaining some of the updates and changes. - Mike...

The SQL Express team has been working hard to increase the offerings the help you learn and use SQL Express. Be sure to check out these new offerings. Mike SQL Server Express Registration Benefits Update We recently update the 'Welcome' e-mail...

If you've been reading this blog or the SQL Express Forum you've undoubtably seen me write about SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (SQL CE) as an alternative database for use when writing client applications that require local data storage. SQL CE is the...

This topic will be expanded in the near future, but currently is a placeholder.

I have put together steps for you to build an Express Management Studio with Service Pack 1.  See these steps at http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/05/29/creating-a-sql-server-2008-management-studio-express-slipstream-drop.aspx

On June 23rd, we will publish the Express SQL Server 2005 SP3 updates for Windows 7 through Microsoft Update.  This is just a change in the detection logic to offer to a Windows 7 system. The SQL Server 2005 SP3 packages that have already been released...

We recently published a technical article on how to embed and run SQL Server 2008 Express in unattended mode. The article is at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd981032.aspx . We expect to revise this article at a later point in time. To ensure...

I've seen a number of people bringing this message up in the forums recently so I thought I would blog about it rather than type the answer over and over. (I'm lazy that way.) Problem When you run the installer you get the following error after the...

There is a new posting in the PSS SQL Server blog that gives even more detail about installing the SQL Express editions including good information about the prerequisites. It's the same type of information posted here, but Bob Ward is a more advanced...

I asked for your oppinions about a new Report Designer in one of my earlier posts in this blog. I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to offer feedback and for those of you who even filed a bug or two. As you've probably already guessed from...

The SQL Server Engineering team has released a masive white paper that details upgrading to SQL Server 2008. It's all good information, but if you're reading this blog you're probably interested in chapter 10, which specifically covers SQL Server 2008...

Starting in September, we are considering automatically updating SQL Server 2008 including all Express Edition to Service Pack 1 (SP1). See http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/07/30/sql-server-2008-service-pack-sp-1-on-microsoft-update-as-a-required...

The installation of .NET 3.5 can fail for several reasons. Sometimes the .NET 3.5 install fails and sometime SQL Server Setup fails to detect .NET is already on the machine.   If you view the %temp%\sqlsetup.log you can determine whether the .NET...

The August CTP of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is now published: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee315247.aspx . Give it a try and give us feedback!!!   This release does not have many changes around the Express when compared to SQL...

I’d like to share the link to a blog post by Brock Weaver, where he explains how to add SQL Server 2008 Express with Tools to the list of prerequisites for ClickOnce packages: http://youarenotexpectedtounderstandthis.blogspot.com/2009/08/vsnet-2008...