SQL server 2012 fails to re-install after restore of and uninstall of original

Question

I am trying to re-install SQL server 2012 on a new windows 11 (Home 21H2) PC. The original installation went well, but I had to do a restore from another issue, and it left sql server files in a partial state, so I uninstalled and tried to re-install (I even deleted all the sql files in the Program files folders (both x64 and x86) and in Appdata. But when I re-install I get the error 225961-sql-error-log.txt

The SQL Server feature 'SQL_Engine_Core_Inst' is not in a supported state for repair, as it was never successfully configured. Only features from successful installations can be repaired. To continue, remove the specified SQL Server feature.

The Information about the setup shows Database Engine Service Failed, and SQL Server Replication Failed.

Answer 1

Hi @BobN2Tech ,

>The SQL Server feature 'SQL_Engine_Core_Inst' is not in a supported state for repair, as it was never successfully configured. Only features from successful installations can be repaired. To continue, remove the specified SQL Server feature.

Based on your log, it seems that your previous installation didn’t complete successfully so the repair doesn’t work. In this case, I would suggest you manually uninstall your SQL Server as described here, then re-install it again. If the issue persists, I would suggest you posting the setup log for the new installation so we can have a better understanding about the issue.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

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Answer 2

The error message in the screenshot means that SQL Server did not start when Setup wanted to run configuration actions. You can look in the SQL Server errorlog to get an understanding of why. The errorlog is in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG, assuming a default installation.

But keep in mind that Windows 11 is not a supported platform for SQL 2012. (And soon SQL 2012 will not be supported at all.)

Answer 3

I thank those who have offered solutions, but the fastest way to remedy the situation was to set the PC to a factory reset (Windows recovery). Since I had done a complete uninstall (it took several times to remove without errors), and still tried again to re-install, I gave up. After the reset. I re-did the install exactly as I had done, and it went perfectly. Something got corrupted and the uninstall could not handle this situation.