[Ronnie]

Hey,

I was installing SQL server 2005 express on my PC, when it suddenly rebooted. When it came on again, it gave me two error dialogs:

- SQL server NT has performed an illegal operation and needs to close

- SQLDUMPER was not installed correctly. Your installation might be corrupt.

After displaying these, it rebooted again. Not a proper "reboot" too, the screen just went blank and the entire PC came on again. This is happening every time I switch on my PC now.

This is not the first time I have faced this error. The last time this happened, I reinstalled XP on the same partition and that worked. However, I do not want to go through the same procedure again, as it is painstaking to reinstall all the old software. I tried googling about this, but was not able to find much help.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mak213]

Have you tried Last Known Good Configuration in the Advanced boot menu? Hit F8 after the BIOS Splash screen and before the XP Loading bar to get it.

Can also try a restore point from a time before you installed SQL.

[Snake91839]

I had the same issues. I know it's caused by missing/corrupt registry entries for NT. But what I dont' know is which ones and how to fix them. Plus, editing registry keys isn't exactly a very fun or safe thing to do :-P I fixed it by completely formatting the drive with a fresh install. I know it sucks, but it's good to do every once in a while to get rid of random errors like that.

[Ronnie]

@Mak - I tried that, no joy.

@Snake - That would be the third time in six months I would have to resort to such tactics.

[Snake91839]

ouch... that really sucks man.