"Could not find the Database Engine startup handle" while trying to install SQL server 2022 Express Edition

Question

Hi,

Since yesterday, I was trying to install SQL Server 2022 Express edition on my Windows 10 laptop but it is getting failed due to the mentioned error. I tried to uninstall/reinstall, trying the ''troubleshoot errors related to system disk sector size greater than 4 KB'', restarting the PC, trying to install SQL Server 2019 Express Edition and no luck.

I have a screenshot and the overall summary maybe it could help.

I need to get this problem solved as soon as possible since I need SQL server to function for school.

Overall summary:
  Final result:                  Failed: see details below
  Exit code (Decimal):           -2061893607
  Start time:                    2023-09-02 15:34:11
  End time:                      2023-09-02 15:41:56
  Requested action:              Install

Setup completed with required actions for features.
Troubleshooting information for those features:
  Next step for SQLEngine:       Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.


Machine Properties:
  Machine name:                  LAPTOP-CFPHNTTH
  Machine processor count:       12
  OS version:                    Microsoft Windows 10 Home (10.0.19045)
  OS service pack:               
  OS region:                     Canada
  OS language:                   English (United States)
  OS architecture:               x64
  Process architecture:          64 Bit
  OS clustered:                  No

Product features discovered:
  Product              Instance             Instance ID                    Feature                                  Language             Edition              Version         Clustered  Configured

Package properties:
  Description:                   Microsoft SQL Server 2022 
  ProductName:                   SQL Server 2022
  Type:                          RTM
  Version:                       16
  SPLevel:                       0
  Installation location:         C:\SQL2022\Express_ENU\x64\setup\
  Installation edition:          Express

Product Update Status:
  User selected not to include product updates.

Notice: Please read Microsoft SQL Server Software License Terms at aka.ms/useterms.

User Input Settings:
  ACTION:                        Install
  ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN:      true
  AGTSVCACCOUNT:                 NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
  AGTSVCPASSWORD:                *****
  AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Disabled
  ASBACKUPDIR:                   Backup
  ASCOLLATION:                   Latin1_General_CI_AS
  ASCONFIGDIR:                   Config
  ASDATADIR:                     Data
  ASLOGDIR:                      Log
  ASPROVIDERMSOLAP:              1
  ASSERVERMODE:                  TABULAR
  ASSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  ASSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ASSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ASSYSADMINACCOUNTS:            <empty>
  ASTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ASTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ASTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ASTEMPDIR:                     Temp
  AZUREARCPROXYSERVER:           <empty>
  AZUREBILLEDEDITION:            
  AZUREREGION:                   <empty>
  AZURERESOURCEGROUP:            <empty>
  AZURESERVICEPRINCIPAL:         <empty>
  AZURESERVICEPRINCIPALSECRET:   <empty>
  AZURESUBSCRIPTIONID:           <empty>
  AZURETENANTID:                 <empty>
  BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:         Disabled
  CONFIGURATIONFILE:             C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\160\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20230902_153411\ConfigurationFile.ini
  ENABLERANU:                    true
  ENU:                           true
  EXTSVCACCOUNT:                 <empty>
  EXTSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  FEATURES:                      SQLENGINE
  FILESTREAMLEVEL:               0
  FILESTREAMSHARENAME:           <empty>
  FTSVCACCOUNT:                  <empty>
  FTSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  HELP:                          false
  IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS:  true
  IACKNOWLEDGEENTCALLIMITS:      false
  INDICATEPROGRESS:              true
  INSTALLSHAREDDIR:              C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR:           C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\
  INSTALLSQLDATADIR:             <empty>
  INSTANCEDIR:                   C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server
  INSTANCEID:                    SQLEXPRESS
  INSTANCENAME:                  SQLEXPRESS
  ISMASTERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISMASTERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCPORT:               8391
  ISMASTERSVCSSLCERTCN:          <empty>
  ISMASTERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  ISMASTERSVCTHUMBPRINT:         <empty>
  ISSVCACCOUNT:                  NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISSVCPASSWORD:                 <empty>
  ISSVCSTARTUPTYPE:              Automatic
  ISTELSVCACCT:                  <empty>
  ISTELSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  ISTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  ISWORKERSVCACCOUNT:            NT AUTHORITY\Network Service
  ISWORKERSVCCERT:               <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCMASTER:             <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCPASSWORD:           <empty>
  ISWORKERSVCSTARTUPTYPE:        Automatic
  NPENABLED:                     0
  PBDMSSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBDMSSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBDMSSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBENGSVCACCOUNT:               <empty>
  PBENGSVCPASSWORD:              <empty>
  PBENGSVCSTARTUPTYPE:           0
  PBPORTRANGE:                   <empty>
  PID:                           *****
  PRODUCTCOVEREDBYSA:            false
  QUIET:                         true
  QUIETSIMPLE:                   false
  ROLE:                          AllFeatures_WithDefaults
  SAPWD:                         <empty>
  SECURITYMODE:                  <empty>
  SQLBACKUPDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLCOLLATION:                  SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
  SQLMAXDOP:                     0
  SQLMAXMEMORY:                  2147483647
  SQLMINMEMORY:                  0
  SQLSVCACCOUNT:                 NT Service\MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS
  SQLSVCINSTANTFILEINIT:         true
  SQLSVCPASSWORD:                <empty>
  SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE:             Automatic
  SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS:           LAPTOP-CFPHNTTH\jmrtn
  SQLTELSVCACCT:                 NT Service\SQLTELEMETRY$SQLEXPRESS
  SQLTELSVCPASSWORD:             <empty>
  SQLTELSVCSTARTUPTYPE:          Automatic
  SQLTEMPDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBFILECOUNT:            1
  SQLTEMPDBFILEGROWTH:           64
  SQLTEMPDBFILESIZE:             8
  SQLTEMPDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILEGROWTH:        64
  SQLTEMPDBLOGFILESIZE:          8
  SQLUSERDBDIR:                  <empty>
  SQLUSERDBLOGDIR:               <empty>
  SUPPRESSPAIDEDITIONNOTICE:     false
  SUPPRESSPRIVACYSTATEMENTNOTICE: false
  TCPENABLED:                    0
  UIMODE:                        AutoAdvance
  UpdateEnabled:                 false
  UpdateSource:                  MU
  USEMICROSOFTUPDATE:            false
  USESQLRECOMMENDEDMEMORYLIMITS: false

  Configuration file:            C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\160\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20230902_153411\ConfigurationFile.ini

Detailed results:
  Feature:                       Database Engine Services
  Status:                        Failed
  Reason for failure:            An error occurred during the setup process of the feature.
  Next Step:                     Use the following information to resolve the error, uninstall this feature, and then run the setup process again.
  Component name:                SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
  Component error code:          0x851A0019
  Error description:             Could not find the Database Engine startup handle.
  Error help link:               https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkId=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50000&ProdVer=16.0.1000.6&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4025&EvtType=0xD15B4EB2%400x4BDAF9BA%401306%4025

  Feature:                       SQL Browser
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       SQL Writer
  Status:                        Passed

  Feature:                       Setup Support Files
  Status:                        Passed

Rules with failures or warnings:

Global rules:
Warning    IsFirewallEnabled                The Windows Firewall is enabled. Make sure the appropriate ports are open to enable remote access. See the rules documentation at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2162127 for information about ports to open for each feature.

Rules report file:               C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\160\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20230902_153411\SystemConfigurationCheck_Report.htm

Answer 1

Yes, there are four ones, because SQL Server starts a few times during Setup.

The error you have is this:

2023-09-02 15:38:44.08 spid34s Error: 17190, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2023-09-02 15:38:44.08 spid34s Initializing the FallBack certificate failed with error code: 15, state: 29, error number: 0. 2023-09-02 15:38:44.08 spid34s Unable to initialize SSL encryption because a valid certificate could not be found, and it is not possible to create a self-signed certificate.

This typically indicates that the profile for the Default User in Windows is corrupted. You can work around the problem by setting the service accounts to LocalService, but I don't recommend.

How to repair a corrupted Windows profile is beyond the scope of the SQL Server tag, but you can google for solutions. I ran into this a couple of years back, and I think a common advice was to simply copy the default profile from a different computer. Myself, it might be that I restored from a backup.