Forum FAQ: How do I resolve ‘SQL Server Setup cannot valid the service accounts’ error message during the setup?

Question

Sometimes, we get ‘SQL Server Setup cannot validate the service accounts’ in the Server Configuration page during the installation even though we use correct account name and password.

Answer

The error message typically happens when you use domain accounts as service account. If the Activity Directory Service (ADS) is not available currently, so the setup cannot valid the domain accounts you specify.

As a work around, you can temporarily choose built-in system accounts from dropdown list during the installation which should work to complete the setup. However, a built-in system account may have addition privileges than SQL Server service actually requires. Therefore, we recommend reconfiguring each service of SQL Server to use an individual domain account or local Windows account.

More Information

[Optional: Provide additional information about the topic here.]

Applies to

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2