It is supposed to be located at ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\’ folder and the name is ‘SqlWb.exe’. There should also be a shortcut located at ‘Start – Programs – Microsoft SQL Server 2005′ folder.

So by doing some research, I came across many different solutions, and some of them guided me in the correct direction. Apparently, this can happen when you have missed to install certain components, or if you have installed SQL Express, or Visual Studio (which comes with SQL Express), and during the installation, the installation program recognizes the ‘tools’ folder at ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\’.

So what should you do?

Well, I solved it by renaming the ‘tools’ folder to something like ‘toolsbak’

Then I went to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ which is located in the Control Panel folder. I located the Microsoft SQL 2005, clicked it and two buttons appear. One is the ‘Change’ button and the other is ‘Remove’ button, of which I clicked on the ‘Change’ button.

This opens a new window, where I selected the ‘Workstation Components’ radio button. The program at this point does some checks on your system, and then you get to a screen where you can select the button ‘Change Installed Components’. Next you have to expand (press the + sign next to the) Client Components, right clicking on the ‘Management Tools’ will bring up a window where you select ‘Will be installed on local hard drive’.

That’s it.

Windows could not start the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 3417.

Hey, I have another solution. My event viewer said something about the Master database being compressed. I checked the data folder, and all database files were blue (meaning compressed, the ‘blue’ setting can be found in folder options). So I selected all files, right clicked, choose properties, clicked advanced and unchecked compressed attributes. After that, I could start the service.

I cannot find this database anywhere. But I can download it Here.

To download the latest version of the instnwnd.sql installer script

• Go to the Microsoft SQL download website: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/.

• Locate the latest version of the Northwind database installer script (SQL2000SampleDb.msi).

• Download and run the SQL2000SampleDb.msi installer.

You now have a copy of the instnwnd.sql installer script. Proceed to the next step procedure for installation instructions.

To install the Northwind database.

• Go to the command prompt.

• Locate the Northwind installer script named instnwnd.sql.

• From the command prompt, change directory to the path of the installer script. Type the following command to install the database.

osql -U sa -P [password] -i instnwnd.sql

• Press ENTER.

• The Northwind database installs.

To verify the connection to the Northwind database.

• Launch Visual Studio.

• And the final result like this:

To create a stored procedure

• Open Microsoft SQL Server 2005 >> SQL Server Management Studio.
• In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of SQL Server 2005 Database Engine and then expand that instance.

• Expand Databases, expand the database in which the stored procedure belongs, and then expand Programmability.

• Right-click Stored Procedures, and then click New Stored Procedure.
• On the Query menu, click Specify Values for Template Parameters.
• In the Specify Values for Template Parameters dialog box, the Value column contains suggested values for the parameters. Accept the values or replace them with new values, and then click OK.

• In the query editor, replace the SELECT statement with the statements for your procedure.
• To test the syntax, on the Query menu, click Parse.
• To create the stored procedure, on the Query menu, click Execute.
• To save the script, on the File menu, click Save. Accept the file name or replace it with a new name, and then click Save.