SQL Service not started even SQL installed successfully

Senthil Murugan 20 Reputation points
2025-07-25T04:16:26.8733333+00:00

Issue Summary for HP Support – SQL Server Stack Overflow on HP EliteBook

👤 User:

  • Laptop: HP EliteBook 640 G11 Notebook PC
  • OS: Windows 10 Enterprise x64, Build 26100
  • System: Physical machine, no virtualization
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Disk: Sufficient free space, SSD
  • Antivirus: Disabled during tests

🧱 Problem:

Attempts to install and run SQL Server (2022 & 2019) fail with:

EXCEPTION_STACK_OVERFLOW (c00000fd) During engine startup (master.mdf recovery)

Also confirmed:

  • ❌ SQL service fails to start (Error 1067)
  • ❌ Minimal mode startup crashes with same overflow
  • ❌ 2019 Express fails (0x851A001A: Wait on Database Engine Recovery Handle Failed)
  • ❌ Even a clean instance (e.g., SQL2022PROD or SQLEXPRESS) fails on this system

🔍 Troubleshooting Already Performed:

Step Result
✅ .NET 4.8 present OK
✅ .NET 4.8 present OK
✅ sfc /scannow, DISM /RestoreHealth No issues
✅ Memory check via mdsched No RAM faults
✅ Increased user-mode VA (bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072) No effect
✅ Custom paging file set to 4–8 GB No effect
✅ Antivirus fully disabled No change
✅ Rebuilt system databases Still fails
✅ OS is not in VM, running on native Hyper-V capable hardware Confirmed Issue Summary for HP Support – SQL Server Stack Overflow on HP EliteBook 👤 User: Laptop: HP EliteBook 640 G11 Notebook PC OS: Windows 10 Enterprise x64, Build 26100 System: Physical machine, no virtualization Memory: 16 GB RAM Disk: Sufficient free space, SSD Antivirus: Disabled during tests 🧱 Problem: Attempts to install and run SQL Server (2022 & 2019) fail with: EXCEPTION_STACK_OVERFLOW (c00000fd)
During engine startup (master.mdf recovery) Also confirmed: ❌ SQL service fails to start (Error 1067) ❌ Minimal mode startup crashes with same overflow ❌ 2019 Express fails (0x851A001A: Wait on Database Engine Recovery Handle Failed) ❌ Even a clean instance (e.g., SQL2022PROD or SQLEXPRESS) fails on this system 🔍 Troubleshooting Already Performed: Step Result ✅ .NET 4.8 present OK ✅ sfc /scannow, DISM /RestoreHealth No issues ✅ Memory check via mdsched No RAM faults ✅ Increased user-mode VA (bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072) No effect ✅ Custom paging file set to 4–8 GB No effect ✅ Antivirus fully disabled No change ✅ Rebuilt system databases Still fails ✅ OS is not in VM, running on native Hyper-V capable hardware Confirmed
SQL Server Database Engine

Answer accepted by question author

Erland Sommarskog 135.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2025-07-25T21:33:40.99+00:00

Sorry for the delay, but the Swedish summer weather did not permit me to stay indoors all day.

You said that you were using Windows 10, so I got a little concerned. But you are in fact using Windows 11, and there is a known issue with Windows 11 reporting a disk-sector size that SQL Server cannot cope with. This is the issue you are running into. The key line in the SQL Server errorlog is this one:

2025-07-16 21:59:29.13 spid39s There have been 256 misaligned log IOs which required falling back to synchronous IO. The current IO is on file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.SQL2022PROD\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf.

See this article, where Microsoft suggests how you can work around this problem.

Was this answer helpful?

2 people found this answer helpful.

0 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.