I picked up a new development box the other day and I spent most of yesterday (heck, it was ALL of yesterday) getting the machine configured. Nearly all software installed without any issues except for SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition. After completing the installation, I planned to validate the installation by first checking to see that the SQL Server services were running and then launching SQL Server Management Studio to ensure I could connect to the Northwind database. The services were running, however, there wasn’t much to be found other than Configuration Tools under Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2005. 
This wasn’t the first time this installation gave me trouble. In fact, the screen shot above comes from one of my laptops which I opted not to “patch.” But since I was surely going to need SQL installed on the new machine, I didn’t have the luxury of abandoning the installation this time around.
I attempted to install a few times with no luck. I googled for help with little luck. In the end, I uninstalled every “Microsoft SQL Server…” program and then reinstalled. It worked! I assumed this attempt was successful because I had uninstalled a version of SQL Server 2005 Express along with all the other programs. A google search implied that this may be causing the issues. However, the laptop which I still haven’t patched doesn’t have the Express Edition running.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever figure this one out. Actually, I’m not sure if I want to. I know well over a dozen individuals who have successfully installed SQL 2005 without any problems and now I have botched up the installation on two separate occasions on two different machines using two different installation discs. I’m either unlucky, cursed or dumb (or a combination of the three) and I don’t care to know which…
I actually never installed the SQL Server 2005 Dev Edition. I made sure that I got internet access at every possible location, meaning at home, at work, in the train, in the bar, in the restaurant, just everywhere where I could be working so I’m using the remote (online) database only which is properly setup anyway.