How to perform a clean uninstall of Microsoft SQL Server

How to perform a clean uninstall of Microsoft SQL Server

Procedure Steps

Important: Modifying the registry could cause irreversible damage to your Windows operating
system; be sure to back up the registry before making any changes. Follow the instructions located at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756.

1) Ensure any databases using Microsoft SQL Server are backed up to a safe location.

2) Click the Start button, then select Control Panel. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.

3) In the Add or Remove Programs window, choose any entries containing "Microsoft SQL Server" in the name of the program, then click [Remove].

4) Once all Microsoft SQL Server-related entries have been removed, delete the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server

5) Start Registry Editor. To do this, click the Start button, then select Run. In the Open field, type regedit, then click [OK].

6) Delete the following Registry keys. Note that not all of these keys may exist on the system.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSSQLServer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSSQLServer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server


7) Reboot the computer.

You may now reinstall Microsoft SQL Server. Refer to the OnGuard Installation Guide for more information.

Applies To

OnGuard (All versions)
SQL Server (All versions)

Additional Information

The steps provided in this article have been used by Lenel Technical Support to uninstall Microsoft SQL Server and allow it to be reinstalled successfully.

For more details about manually uninstalling an instance of Microsoft SQL Server, follow the link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909967/en-us