How to: Remove a SQL Server 2005 Failover Clustered Instance (Setup)

Use this procedure to uninstall a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 failover clustered instance.

Before you begin

Consider the following important points before you uninstall a SQL Server 2005 failover cluster:

• On a computer running SQL Server 2005 along with previous SQL Server versions, Enterprise Manager and other programs that depend on SQL-DMO may be disabled. This may occur in the following situations:
  • Side-by-side installations of SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2000, and/or SQL Server 7.0, where any of the versions is uninstalled.
  • Side-by-side installations of SQL Server 2000 with SQL Server 2005, where SQL Server 2000 is installed after SQL Server 2005.
    This issue is due to removal of the registration for the SQL Server 2005 SQL-DMO COM library. To re-enable SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Manager and other programs with SQL-DMO dependencies, register SQL-DMO by running 'regsvr32.exe sqldmo.dll' from a command prompt.
• If SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 are installed side-by-side in a clustered environment, SQL Native Client should not be uninstalled if you uninstall SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server Resource DLL from SQL Server 2005 always uses SQL Native Client to connect to SQL Server. When SQL Server 2005 is installed, the SQL Server Cluster Resource DLL is upgraded. When SQL Server 2005 is uninstalled, the SQL Server Resource DLL is not replaced with the version required by SQL Server 2000. Leaving SQL Native Client on cluster nodes allows the SQL Server Resource DLL to continue to connect to instances of SQL Server 2000.
• If SQL Native Client is uninstalled by accident, SQL Server resources will fail to start. To reinstall SQL Native Client, run the SQL Server 2005 Setup program to install SQL Server 2005 prerequisites.
• If you uninstall a failover cluster that has more than one SQL IP cluster resource, you must remove the additional SQL IP resources using cluster administrator.

For information about command prompt syntax, see How to: Install SQL Server 2005 from the Command Prompt.

To remove a SQL Server 2005 failover cluster

1. To begin the uninstallation process, launch Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.

2. Select the SQL Server 2005 component to uninstall, and then click Remove. This will launch the SQL Server 2005 Installation Wizard.

3. On the Component Selection page, select Remove SQL Server 2005 instance components and then click the instance name and common components to uninstall. To continue, click Next.

4. On the Remote Login Information page, provide the password for the administrator account on all nodes of the clustered instance. To continue, click Next.

5. On the Confirmation page, verify the selections for SQL Server components that will be removed. To continue with the uninstallation process, click Finish.

6. The SQL Server Installation Wizard will remove SQL Server 2005 components from your computer. If Setup requires access to the SQL Server 2005 installation media, you will be prompted to insert the CD or DVD into the CD or DVD drive. The CD or DVD used to uninstall SQL Server must have the same build number as the SQL Server instance you are trying to uninstall. For network installations, Setup must have access to the network build folder.

7. The SQL Server System Configuration Checker will scan your computer's existing configuration. On the Welcome page, click Next. After the System Configuration Checker finishes its scan, click Next to continue.

8. The Setup Progress page will display status as it removes SQL Server 2005 from your computer. On the Completing the Microsoft SQL Server Installation Wizard page, you can view the Setup summary log by clicking the link provided on this page. To exit the SQL Server Installation Wizard, click Finish.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Manually Uninstall a SQL Server 2005 Failover Cluster

Other Resources

How to: View SQL Server 2005 Setup Log Files
How to: Read a SQL Server 2005 Setup Log File

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance