SQL Server 2012 Express on Windows 10

[JScannell]

I am having a very tough time doing what should be a fairly straight-forward process. I'm trying to install SQL Server 2012 Express on my Windows 10 laptop. I initially tried installing version 2014 and when that happened I then switched to version 2012.

I've tried several different ways without any success. It never installs the basic SQL Server database engine service. I do have SSMS, but not the local database engine which I need for development.

I have tried the following:
1. Straight install taking the default options right through to the end including named instance and IT authentication
2. Install with a default instance but with a SQL login with an sa account
3. Run the install as an administrator (I did this reluctantly because if I was supposed to install as administrator, the installation instructions would have said to do that)

Of course, did a complete de-install in between each try. This whole thing has ended up taking hours and hours as you all know. So, I've quit trying and now am reaching out to the developers' forum for help. How, exactly, should I install this product?

Thanks in advance,
Jerry

Jerry Scannell

 

[softhemc]

I've just reread your first paragraph. When I've tried to install an earlier version of Visual Studio whilst I've got a newer version installed I've had major problems. I needed to reinstall VS 2012 Ultimate (or whatever that version was called) after I'd installed 2013 Community because I needed to use some extensions which wouldn't install in 2013 Community. After wasting best part of a day I uninstalled them both overnight (IOBIT allows batch uninstalls) and had neither the following morning. I then installed 2012 and followed that with the install of 2013 and everything worked perfectly. Maybe a similar situation exists with SQL Server - fortunately I've never try installing them 'out of order'.