Date: 05/25/06 (SQL Server)    Keywords: software, xml, database, sql, microsoft

Okay. So I've been trying to install SQL Server 2005 for about a month now, on and off. I keep running into the usual problems. My boss wants it installed now now now, so this time I went whole hog. I uninstalled everything remotely Microsoft (including all versions of Visual Studio, all versions of the .NET framework, Office, and a bunch of little add-ons I assumed went to Visual Studio, like WSE and the XML parsers) from the machine. I physically deleted every file I could from the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server directory. (instapi.dll, from the Microsoft SQL Server\90 directory could not be deleted, no matter what I did, but everything else went away). I try to install, and when I get to the point where it's actually going to install the software< I get the following dialog box:

The following components that you chose to install are already installed on the machine. To view a report of available options and alternatives click on Details.
SQL Server Database Services 9.00.1309.06
Analysis Services 9.00.1309.06
Reporting Services 9.00.852
Notification Services 9.00.852
Integration Services 9.00.852
Workstation Components, Books Online, and development tools 9.00.852

Each of these has a checkbox next to it, but all the checkboxes are blank. When I hit Next, I get the following dialog box:
None of the selected features can be installed or upgraded. Setup cannot proceed since no effective change can be made to the machine. To continue, click Back and select features to install.

Now, I know the physical fiels aren't there, since I uninstalled the software and then deleted any artifactas, so the problem must be that there are some stray registry keys telling the install procedure that the software still exists on the machine. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of registry keys written by SQL Server 2005, so I can make sure everything is gone before I try this again?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/sqlserver/48457.html