Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Unable to install SQL Service Pack with various versions of ACT installed.

I need to give credit were credit is due. We had at the store in for service a unit that would give very strange error messages when it would go to install a service pack for SQL server from windows update.

Most customers don’t know, and don’t want to know what SQL server is, or does, but for the rest of us, these types of problems can cause extreme hair loss!

The root of this problem is basically this: ACT locks up the SQL database engine to make sure any important information that you put into the system, can’t be accessed against your wishes. In their efforts to lock down the system to ensure your data’s safety, they also managed to lock out Microsoft’s official patches. They took out the method of installing these patches, which then causes the patch to fail. Not a very easy problem to figure out, and not so simple of a solution. I will say though, without the following link, I wouldn’t have been able to solve this problem. ACT doesn’t acknowledge the problem on their online knowledge base, and the only information I found was on a blog.

Thank heavens for blogs!!

Link: http://www.sqlserverfaq.net/2008/07/15/unable-to-install-security-patch-948109-to-sql-server-2005-express-edition-which-is-installed-along-with-act7-software/


Much kudos’ to SQLServerFAQ.net, and the information that they provided.

Side note: Some of the instructions are a little difficult to follow, and once during my attempts it gave me a strange response. If this happens to you, I suggest you start over again from the beginning. That worked for me!