Installing SQL Server 2005 question.

Hello,

I installed a version of VS.NET 2005 RC and on it it says it installed SQL Server Express 2005.

But, I dont see it anywhere on my system.the only thing is see new on my system related to SQL Server is:
SQL Server 2005 CTP. What is this (what is CTP)? And only a subfolder 'configuration tools' under it.

Did I install the wrong thing? I was expecting like a beta version of SQL Server 2005.

SQL browser is not starting in the local machine mode. It searches for some time and comes back with a data provider not enabled message. What should I do ?

ThanksHi,

First of all note that SQL Server Express 2005 is different from SQL Server 2005. SQL Server 2005 is the mainstream product and SQL Server Express 2005 is the lightweight free product which is meant as a replacement for MSDE.

So, if you want SQL Server 2005, then you would need to download the September CTP of SQL Server 2005 from here :
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/2005/productinfo/ctp.mspx

Now for the CTP badge - CTP stands for Community Technology Preview. Here is a bit of explanation on a CTP build from Microsoft:

"The CTP builds are not for everyone. Because our goal is to offer these builds as they are ready, very little effort is put into stabilizing them or ensuring their quality. Typically, our Beta and released products go through a rigorous testing and quality assurance process before they become available. These interim Community Technology Preview builds do not go through this process. It is very likely that removing the build will introduce significant instability to your installed system and may even cause you to need to reformat your drive. Therefore, do not install these builds on machines on which you depend."
Regards,
Vikram|||Enable TCP/IP for SQL Server Express. It's not enabled by default. To enable, you should see an entry for SQL Configuration Manager in the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 CTP folder. That should, I think, solve your SQL Browser problem. Andrew Watt MVP - InfoPath wrote in message news:977c9524-683e-49ac-8d5c-083a4706b196@.discussions.microsoft.com...
> Hello, >
> I installed a version of VS.NET 2005 RC and on it it says it installed
> SQL Server Express 2005. >
> But, I dont see it anywhere on my system.the only thing is see new on my
> system related to SQL Server is:
> SQL Server 2005 CTP. What is this (what is CTP)? And only a
> subfolder 'configuration tools' under it. >
> Did I install the wrong thing? I was expecting like a beta version of
> SQL Server 2005. >
> SQL browser is not starting in the local machine mode. It searches for
> some time and comes back with a data provider not enabled message. What
> should I do ? >
> Thanks
>