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

Question

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

Akbar Bunyadzade 25

Hello there, I was trying to install SQL Server 2022 Express edition on my Windows 10 pro laptop, but in the end, the installation process kept getting stuck. I tried to restart the system, uninstall & reinstall the software, yet nothing changed, again the same error with the following screenshot:
Screenshot 2024-02-17 133903.jpg For convenience, I have attached an error file for you. I need to get this thing done as soon as possible for my boot camp project ERRORLOG.txt

Vinodh247 34,661 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2024-02-17T10:43:43.91+00:00
Looks like account issue. The error log file does not have any details related to this error. Can you try the following to narrow down the issue?

Check the SQL Server service account if it lacks permission to bring SQL Server database engine services online. You can try to change the SQL Server service account to "NT Authority\System" in the Server Configuration page during reinstallation.

Have you modified the registry setting for the default installation drive or the ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes value? if so revert the changes and run the setup.exe again.

Check if you have an outdated or incompatible version of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service. You can try to update the WMI service or repair the installation. And as Erland states, if you have another instance already available, you can try to use that instead.
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:17:30.8133333+00:00

Sorry for uploading the wrong error log file. I tried again and got this error log file in the path you mentioned:

ERRORLOG.txt

For the record, it looks like the previous file, hope I got it right. Checked the WMI service, and it is up to date, thus no problem from that side. Although SQLEXPRESS07 seemed okay to use from there, it was stopped in the services panel. See the screenshot below:

Tried the NT Authority\System part, which did not change the final result. I think the best way would be to reset the PC, what do you think?

For the record, my Windows is not activated, does that have any association with the issue?

Thanks for your previous answer
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:27:05.32+00:00

Updated: Got a different error message this time:

ERRORLOG.txt
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:29:06.4066667+00:00

Also checked for system file corruption using SFC tool, it found and repaired all.

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Vinodh247 34,661 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2024-02-17T10:43:43.91+00:00

Looks like account issue. The error log file does not have any details related to this error. Can you try the following to narrow down the issue?

Check the SQL Server service account if it lacks permission to bring SQL Server database engine services online. You can try to change the SQL Server service account to "NT Authority\System" in the Server Configuration page during reinstallation.

Have you modified the registry setting for the default installation drive or the ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes value? if so revert the changes and run the setup.exe again.

Check if you have an outdated or incompatible version of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service. You can try to update the WMI service or repair the installation. And as Erland states, if you have another instance already available, you can try to use that instead.
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:17:30.8133333+00:00

Sorry for uploading the wrong error log file. I tried again and got this error log file in the path you mentioned:

ERRORLOG.txt

For the record, it looks like the previous file, hope I got it right. Checked the WMI service, and it is up to date, thus no problem from that side. Although SQLEXPRESS07 seemed okay to use from there, it was stopped in the services panel. See the screenshot below:

Tried the NT Authority\System part, which did not change the final result. I think the best way would be to reset the PC, what do you think?

For the record, my Windows is not activated, does that have any association with the issue?

Thanks for your previous answer
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:27:05.32+00:00

Updated: Got a different error message this time:

ERRORLOG.txt
Akbar Bunyadzade 25 Reputation points

2024-02-17T14:29:06.4066667+00:00

Also checked for system file corruption using SFC tool, it found and repaired all.

Answer 1

It seems that you've run into the situation that you have installed, cleaned up things at random, and now Setup is failing because it get confused by remnants. Or at least that is my impression from the error messages you get. I would suggest that you follow this article to uninstall everything you have now: https://www.sql-easy.com/learn/how-to-uninstall-sql-server/ I learnt about this article from another poster I tried to help. This poster eventually found this article on his own, and reported that after following the advice in the article, he was able to install SQL Server. Now, there is likely to be a reason why your first installation failed, and as long as you address that problem, installation will fail again. But hopefully then with the "right" error. The other alternative is to create a VM and install SQL Server on the VM.

Answer 2

Thanks for uploading the SQL Server errorlog, but unfortunately it seems that you got hold of the wrong one. The errorlog you attached is from an installation of SQL 2019, and that installation seem to have completed successfully, at least from what I can see in the errorlog file.

I can see that instance name for your SQL 2019 instance is SQLEXPRESS07, which suggests that you have made a couple of attempts.

The errorlog file for the attempt to install SQL 2022 should be in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.SQLEXPRESSnn\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG.

Then again if your instance SQLEXPRESS07 is up and running, can you use this for your boot camp? Or do you need SQL 2022?

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

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