There is an extra step that you need to take when upgrading from one edition of SQL Server 2008 to another, for example when upgrading from Express to Express with Tools. This extra step is called Edition Upgrade (sometimes SKU Upgrade) and the net result is that you have to run the install wizard twice when upgrading an existing instance to a ...

I promised an update on SQL Express availability in my last post about the release of SQL Server 2008 so here it is. SQL Server 2008 Express is now available along with the release of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which is a prerequisite and Visual Studio Express SP1. As I mentioned, there are two more editions of SQL Express on the way. There are a ...

 Microsoft has announced the release of SQL Server 2008 and that means it time for another post about SQL Server Express. The press release indicated that SQL Express is already available, but those of you who have followed the link have found that it is not actually there. Nothing to worry about, has a dependency on the .NET Framework 3.5 ...

It's time for another release post, this time for RC0 of SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services. Here is the information that everyone is waiting to hear about the SQL Express product line. (Note: If you're the impatient type you can skip to the end of this post to find the instructions for installing SQL ...

Several questions have come up lately regarding whether SQL Server Express is an appropriate product to be used in a hosting environment.  Here are the answers:   ·         User Instances (also known as RANU) available with SQL Server Express Edition, are NOT RECOMMENDED for hosting ...

I've gotten a number of questions recently asking how SQL Express uses resources during idle time, and how that behavior impacts the way SQL Express behaves ''on first connection'' after being idle for a period of time. While many of these questions have been related to web hosting, the behavior is a general behavior for SQL Express, so I'll ...

Just a quick not to let you know that the SP2 update for SQL Express, SQL Express with Advanced Services and SQL Express Toolkit are being published to Microsoft Update today. These are automatic updates and will apply to computers based on your Microsoft Update settings for automatic updates. (i.e. Notify, Download and Notify or Download and ...

It's been a long road filled with many shouts of ''Are we there yet?'', so I'm happy to say that yes, we're there now. SP2 has finally be released. You can find the SQL Express SP2 bits on the SQL Express download page along with several other related downloads. As of this writing, we were having some problems with our publication system, so you ...

The SQL Express team has been working hard to increase the offerings the help you learn and use SQL Express. Be sure to check out these new offerings. Mike SQL Server Express Registration Benefits Update We recently update the 'Welcome' e-mail sent to SQL Server Express registered users to include many helpful new links and resources. In ...

Owen Thomas wrote an article for the Business 2.0 secton of CNNMoney.com on December 15,2006 that made some inaccurate claims about SQL Express compatibility with the upcomming Windows Vista operating system. Mr. Thomas wrote that you ''can't run the current version of SQL Server'' on Windows Vista. This is not true, SQL Express SP1 ...