Help needed in SQL server 2014 uninstall from Windows 11 - no valid SQL Server 2014 features to perform this operation

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Help needed in SQL server 2014 uninstall from Windows 11 - no valid SQL Server 2014 features to perform this operation

Milo Kusmic 0

I accidentally installed SQL 2014 components as part of a software package on my Windows 11 machine. I tried both a 32bit and 64bit version in this installation attempt. Now I can't seem to uninstall it. I believe I did start uninstalling a few components in random order before I had understanding of any official procedure. It did throw some remarks on dependencies at that time.

These are the components still installed at the moment:

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This is the error I get after following the default uninstall procedure:

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Windows version:

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I could use some advise on possibly fully manual uninstall procedure or other steps to take.

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Answer 1

MikeyQiaoMSFT-0444 3,300

Hi @Milo Kusmic

Notice that there is not selected instance in the uninstall procedure you posted.

You need to specify the instance you want to remove on the select features page.

Then follow by the steps in this doc: Uninstall an existing instance of SQL Server (Setup) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn

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After you have uninstalled the instance, you need to uninstall the remaining components separately from the control panel.

Note：Before the uninstallation, stop all Sql Server Services on the device.

1.Use Win+R and ‘services.msc’

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2.Select all ql server services and stop.

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Best regards,

Mikey Qiao

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Milo Kusmic 0 Reputation points

2024-03-25T16:13:32.3166667+00:00

Hi Mikey,

Thank you for your reply. I did select the instance to remove in the previous step but it simply doesn't show any features in the next step and errors out.

Any other suggestions? Removing files and registry entries?
MikeyQiaoMSFT-0444 3,300 Reputation points

2024-03-26T06:31:44.4633333+00:00
Hi @Milo Kusmic

The issue you are experiencing may be related to having other versions of SQL Server installed on your computer. If you must use the Setup program to uninstall SQL Server, you can first use it to repair the instance and then proceed with the uninstallation.

However, considering that you may need to reinstall SQL Server later, I recommend that you completely delete all SQL Server-related program files from the registry and folders.

This is the suggested solution：

Try uninstalling SQL Server completely and then reinstalling it. Here are the steps to uninstall cleanly.

Remove all SQL Server components from 'Programs and Features' Tips：Before Step 1 Terminates all sql related processes in the task manager. Stop all sql server related services before running the uninstall program.

Backup the registry

Delete the following keys in regedit: --HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server --HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and delete all the sub-keys referencing SQL Server

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and delete all the keys referencing SQL Server

Reboot the machine In addition, please use an administrator account to reinstall SQL Server on your computer(Right click->run as administrator).

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Help needed in SQL server 2014 uninstall from Windows 11 - no valid SQL Server 2014 features to perform this operation

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