SQL Server Express 2022 - SQL Server service is not starting on Windows 11 system.

Question

SQL Server Express 2022 - SQL Server service is not starting on Windows 11 system.

Dipali Limbkar 20

On a newly installed OS of Windows 11, SQL Server Express 2022 is installed successfully.

But while connecting to the Server, it errors out as SQL Server service is not starting, with below Error

"Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly".

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Erland Sommarskog 134.3K MVP Volunteer Moderator

You are running into a known issue, as described in the article that Tony Dinh linked to.

When you applied trace flag 1800, you got past that error, but since Setup failed to complete the configuration of SQL Server.

The easiest way to sort things out is to uninstall the instance and apply the registry fix described in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/database-file-operations/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size and then run Setup again. It would be possible to repair the instance manually, but that is more work and it would be more difficult for me to remote-control you.

Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-10T12:36:22.41+00:00

The problem is resolved after uninstalling the instance and applying the registry fix described in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/database-file-operations/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size and then installing the Instance again. Thanks All! @Erland Sommarskog , @Anonymous , @Bruce (SqlWork.com) .
Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-10T12:38:40.7166667+00:00

One concern though, we have to instruct all the system users to perform this registry change, who wants to use our Product along with SQL Express with Windows 11.

Is there any future updates from Microsoft to resolve this problem?
Erland Sommarskog 134.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-10-10T20:38:29.8266667+00:00

If you find this to be a blocking issue, I would encourage you to open a support case with Microsoft and press for a better solution.

I guess, though, that you can push out this registry fix through System Center or similar. (No, don't ask me for the details. System Center is not my area.)

2 additional answers

Your answer

Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-10T12:36:22.41+00:00

The problem is resolved after uninstalling the instance and applying the registry fix described in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/database-file-operations/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size and then installing the Instance again. Thanks All! @Erland Sommarskog , @Anonymous , @Bruce (SqlWork.com) .
Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-10T12:38:40.7166667+00:00

One concern though, we have to instruct all the system users to perform this registry change, who wants to use our Product along with SQL Express with Windows 11.

Is there any future updates from Microsoft to resolve this problem?
Erland Sommarskog 134.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-10-10T20:38:29.8266667+00:00

If you find this to be a blocking issue, I would encourage you to open a support case with Microsoft and press for a better solution.

I guess, though, that you can push out this registry fix through System Center or similar. (No, don't ask me for the details. System Center is not my area.)

Answer 1

Anonymous

Hello @Dipali Limbkar !

For clarification that SQL Server Express editions do not include SQL Server Agent. That’s why you’ll never be able to start the SQL Agent service on Express — it simply isn’t part of the SKU, please refer: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/editions-and-components-of-sql-server-2022?view=sql-server-ver17#management-tools

If you see a “SQL Server Agent” service listed, it’s either left over from another edition or a misinterpretation. But since your description said you’re actually unable to start the SQL Server Database Engine service itself (not just Agent), and hitting Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly. That points to a startup failure.

You can open the Services.msc in your search bar and look to confirm for SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS), if there's also exist for SQL Server Agent (SQLEXPRESS), this agent should not exists.
If the Data Engine is failing, you can navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Log\ERRORLOG and open the latest ERRORLOG notepad, there's usually the root descripted in the note.

Common causes of Error 1067:

TLS/Protocol Misconfiguration: SQL Server 2022 requires TLS 1.2 or higher, if If Windows 11 has disabled certain protocols or ciphers, SQL won’t start. Ensure that your TLS 1.2 is enabled in the registry or via group policy.
Corrupted Master Database: If master.mdf or mastlog.ldf is missing or corrupted, startup fails. You can try to repair via setup with Repair Option.
Port Conflict: Another service may be binding to current TCP 1433. You can check by Run netstat -ano | findstr 1433 and change port in SQL Server Configuration Manager if needed.
Service Account Permissions: The SQL service account may not have rights to its data directories. Ensure that NT Service\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS has full control on DATA and LOG folders.

You can run SQL Server Configuration Manager, try to start the service there, it will give you clearer error messages. If you still failing, try run setup.exe from installation media and choose Repair. If repair fails also, uninstall and reinstall (but keep a copy of your DATA folder if you already created databases).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions or stuck anywhere!

Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-09T06:57:58.22+00:00

Error Log snippet:

2025-10-09 11:51:53.49 spid26s 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.DT_SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf.

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s Unable to create stack dump file due to stack shortage (ex_terminator - Last chance exception handling)

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s Stack Signature for the dump is 0x0000000000000000

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s CDmpClient::ExecuteAllCallbacks started.

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s XE_DumpCallbacks is executing...
Anonymous

2025-10-09T07:17:17.9966667+00:00
Hello @Dipali Limbkar !

Following the logs:

2025-10-09 11:51:53.49 spid26s 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.DT_SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf.

From the log means SQL Server detected that disk writes to master.mdf weren’t aligned with the expected sector size. It’s often a storage-level issue; SQL can still run, but performance and reliability are impacted.

This ties into the cause of Error 1067 is the Corrupted Master database master.mdf. If the master database is corrupted or inaccessible, SQL Server cannot start at all.

The common causes for this issue are:

Bad shutdown, disk corruption or misaligned storage, leading corrupted or damange the master.mdf.

Your current storage or section didn't align I/O sector size. The physical sector size of the disk (often 4 KB) differs from what Windows or SQL expects (commonly 512e emulation). Refer: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/performance/performance-degradation-misaligned-io-sector-error

Try run fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo C: and confirm sector sizes.

If you see Bytes Per Physical Sector : 4096 but SQL is misaligned, that’s the root cause.

Permissions or access problem, if the SQL service account doesn’t have proper rights to the DATA folder, you’ll see IO errors.

Ensure the service account NT Service\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS has Full Control on the DATA directory.

You can try to start with minimal config

From an elevated command prompt, run following below, this starts SQL in single-user mode. If it comes up, you can run DBCC CHECKDB(master) to check corruption:
sqlservr.exe -m -s SQLEXPRESS

Then if the corruption is confirmed, you’ll need to rebuild the system databases:
setup.exe /QUIET /ACTION=REBUILDDATABASE /INSTANCENAME=SQLEXPRESS /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="YourUser"

Then restore your backups.

If all fails, try to run SQL Server setup and Repair. if that faill also, uninstall/reinstall again, but back up your DATA folder first.

I hope this helps!
Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-09T07:38:33.6+00:00

Error Log snippet:

2025-10-09 11:51:53.49 spid26s 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.DT_SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf.

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s Unable to create stack dump file due to stack shortage (ex_terminator - Last chance exception handling)

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s Stack Signature for the dump is 0x0000000000000000

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s CDmpClient::ExecuteAllCallbacks started.

2025-10-09 11:51:53.50 spid26s XE_DumpCallbacks is executing...
Anonymous

2025-10-09T08:49:34.0333333+00:00

Looks like you send a duplicated comment, can you review again?
Dipali Limbkar 20 Reputation points

2025-10-09T09:26:10.7433333+00:00

After following the steps as per link :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/performance/performance-degradation-misaligned-io-sector-error

Added Startup Parameters -T1800 to SQL Server Service' Properties.

That resulted in different error this time with error log below (The system does not have D drive configured, and log shows some path for D drive):

2025-10-09 14:40:56.65 Server SQL Server is attempting to register a Service Principal Name (SPN) for the SQL Server service. Kerberos authentication will not be possible until a SPN is registered for the SQL Server service. This is an informational message. No user action is required.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.65 Server The SQL Server Network Interface library could not register the Service Principal Name (SPN) [ MSSQLSvc/dinm5CD5302597:DT_SQLEXPRESS ] for the SQL Server service. Windows return code: 0xffffffff, state: 63. Failure to register a SPN might cause integrated authentication to use NTLM instead of Kerberos. This is an informational message. Further action is only required if Kerberos authentication is required by authentication policies and if the SPN has not been manually registered.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.66 spid37s Server is listening on [ ::1 <ipv6> 59844] accept sockets 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.66 spid37s Server is listening on [ 127.0.0.1 <ipv4> 59844] accept sockets 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.66 spid37s Server local connection provider is ready to accept connection on [ \.\pipe\sqlsatellitelaunchDT_SQLEXPRESS ].

2025-10-09 14:40:56.66 spid37s Resource governor reconfiguration encountered an issue (HRESULT code : 0x80070002, reason: Construction of Launchpad Connection failed), while sending active external resource pool ids to launchpad. This will not fail reconfigure.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.71 spid26s Starting up database 'msdb'.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.71 spid31s Starting up database 'mssqlsystemresource'.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.73 spid31s The resource database build version is 16.00.1150. This is an informational message only. No user action is required.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s Error: 17204, Severity: 16, State: 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s FCB::Open failed: Could not open file D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\MSDBData.mdf for file number 1. OS error: 3(The system cannot find the path specified.).

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s Error: 5120, Severity: 16, State: 101.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s Unable to open the physical file "D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\MSDBData.mdf". Operating system error 3: "3(The system cannot find the path specified.)".

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s Error: 17207, Severity: 16, State: 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s FileMgr::StartLogFiles: Operating system error 2(The system cannot find the file specified.) occurred while creating or opening file 'D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\MSDBLog.ldf'. Diagnose and correct the operating system error, and retry the operation.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.74 spid26s File activation failure. The physical file name "D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\MSDBLog.ldf" may be incorrect.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.75 spid31s Starting up database 'model'.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.75 spid31s Error: 17204, Severity: 16, State: 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.75 spid31s FCB::Open failed: Could not open file D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\model.mdf for file number 1. OS error: 3(The system cannot find the path specified.).

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s Error: 5120, Severity: 16, State: 101.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s Unable to open the physical file "D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\model.mdf". Operating system error 3: "3(The system cannot find the path specified.)".

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s Error: 17207, Severity: 16, State: 1.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s FileMgr::StartLogFiles: Operating system error 2(The system cannot find the file specified.) occurred while creating or opening file 'D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\modellog.ldf'. Diagnose and correct the operating system error, and retry the operation.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s File activation failure. The physical file name "D:\dbs\sh\5uj5\1008_054209\cmd\11\obj\x64retail\sql\mkmastr\databases\mkmastr.nativeproj\modellog.ldf" may be incorrect.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s Error: 945, Severity: 14, State: 2.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s Database 'model' cannot be opened due to inaccessible files or insufficient memory or disk space. See the SQL Server errorlog for details.

2025-10-09 14:40:56.76 spid31s SQL Trace was stopped due to server shutdown. Trace ID = '1'. This is an informational message only; no user action is required.

Answer 2

Bruce (SqlWork.com) 84,061

trace flag -T1800 is only for the log file. its used to enable log shipping when the servers have mismatched log file sector sizes.

you need to make register changes to fix the issue:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/database-engine/database-file-operations/troubleshoot-os-4kb-disk-sector-size?tabs=registry-editor

0 comments

Share via

SQL Server Express 2022 - SQL Server service is not starting on Windows 11 system.

2 additional answers

Your answer