INF: How to Manually Uninstall SQL Server 7.0 (276044)

SUMMARY

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

There are two ways you can uninstall SQL Server 7.0:

You can uninstall SQL Server 7.0 through Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.

-or-
On the taskbar, click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, and then click Uninstall Microsoft SQL Server 7.0.

In rare circumstances, the uninstall may not complete due to a failure of some kind and you must manually uninstall SQL Server 7.0. In these cases, you must make sure that the system is in a clean state before you attempt to reinstall the program. The steps in this article outline how to get the system back to a clean state.

NOTE: If SQL Server 6.5 and SQL Server 7.0 are installed on the same server or SQL Server 7.0 is installed with SQL Server 2000 as an instance, this procedure can damage other SQL Server installs and should not be utilized.

MORE INFORMATION

IMPORTANT: If you currently have data that needs to be saved, before you use the following steps, make sure that you have a good backup of the data or a copy of all the data and log files that need to be saved in a directory other than the MSSQL7 directory tree.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To get the system to a clean, stable install point, follow these steps:

Remove any possible conflicting software.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
192710 INF: Basic Guidelines for Installing SQL Server 6.5 or 7.0
Verify through the Microsoft Windows NT Event logs that no hardware problems are currently detected.
Follow these steps to manually remove SQL Server 7.0:
1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In the Control Panel dialog box, click Services. If either the MSSQLServer or SQLServerAgent services are running, stop them.
2. Use Regedt32.exe to remove the following keys in the registry:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer
  
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSSQLServer
  
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SQLServerAgent
  Additionally, remove MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent for each ControlSet key present under:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System
  NOTE: It is possible that a ControlSet key may contain only one of the services, or neither service. The goal is to clean both the MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent services out of every ControlSet key, so delete either of the services present. However, if they do not exist this is not a problem, just continue with the steps.
3. Right-click My Computer.
  1. Click Properties.
  2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Environment tab.
  3. Select the path variable in the box under System Variables and review it in the box to the right of Value. Remove any references to the SQL Server directories from the path statement and also verify that there are no double semi-colons (;;) present. If double semi-colons are present, change them to single semi-colons (;).
4. Copy any .out files to a directory other than the MSSQL7 directory tree. These files may provide further information about the reasons for the failed setup; hence, they should be examined thoroughly and all reported problems should be resolved before you attempt to rerun the setup.
5. If you have had replication installed, the replication files are located in this folder:
  %systemroot%\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Database Replication
  Again, these files are listed under Common Files\Microsoft Shared because other applications may use them. If you are sure that no other applications are using these files, you can remove the files from this folder as well.
6. Remove the SQL Server directory tree completely, by deleting the SQL installation directory. By default, that directory is named \MSSQL7
SQL Server is now removed from the system.