How To Install Sql Server 2012 Express On Windows 7

Below are step by step instructions that will show you how to install SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express on a Windows 7 PC client, and also create your very own local SQL Server on a Windows 7 PC.

Update Windows

Before we can get started, you need to make sure your Windows client is up to date with all recent important Windows updates.

To do this, click on the lower left hand side "Start" windows button and search for Windows Update.

Now that you have updated your Windows client, we can start the install of SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express.

Once you have updated your Windows client with all the important updates, you will be able to proceed with the SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express install.

Download the .exe File

To start with the install you will need to download the .exe file which can be found on Microsoft.com or you can Google SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express or click here.

Note: You will need to select one of the two circled options based on your Windows client, whether your Windows client is 32 bit (x86) or 64 bit (x64). In addition, your PC will need to have the following requirements.

System requirements

Supported operating systems: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2, Windows Vista Service Pack 2

32-bit systems
Computer with Intel or compatible 1GHz or faster processor (2 GHz or faster is recommended.)
64-bit systems
1.4 GHz or faster processor
Minimum of 512 MB of RAM (2 GB or more is recommended.)
2.2 GB of available hard disk space

Once you have decided on which install exe file is needed, you will need to click on the download button to download the .exe file to your PC.

After you click the download button, you will then be asked to either to Run, Save, or Cancel the download.

You will want to Save the SQLManagementStudio_xXX_ENU.exe file on your PC.

Now that you downloaded SQLManagementStudio_xXX_ENU.exe file on your PC, you will want to click the Run button to run the exe file to start the install.

While running the SQLManagementStudio_xXX_ENU.exe file, an extracting pop up will appear extracting all components to the install.

After the extracting is complete, Windows will ask if SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express can have access to proceed with the install, click Yes. A pop up will appear letting you know the setup and install is starting.

You should now see the SQL Server Installation Center.

SQL Server Installation Center

Since this is for a new install, you will want to select the "New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation"

Now that the installation has started, SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express will then validate all support rules have been applied.

If you have any errors you will need to correct them. If you do not have any errors, you will be able to move on with the install.

If no errors are found and all support rules have been applied, you will be asked to agree to the license terms. Please carefully read the license terms and select the two check boxes then click the Next button to proceed with the install.

The install will now start.

Enabling Features

Once the setup files have completed, SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express will then ask for what features you want to enable. All sboxes should be selected, then click the Next button.

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Next, the error reporting option will appear. This is optional and if you want you can select the option to send error reports to Microsoft. Click the Next button to proceed with the install.

Once the install has completed, all options should have the status as "Succeeded." If it does not, you will need to fix the errors before completing the install. If all the options have a status as "Succeeded" then click the close button.

You can now close the SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express Installation Center. This will complete the SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express install on your Windows 7 PC and a local SQL Server database.

Confirm Success

Now that the install is completed, lets validate that the local SQL Server database has created successfully. To do this you have to click on the lower left hand side "Start" windows button and search for cmd.

Open up cmd

To validate our local database install, let's validate the local version of our SQL Server database. To do this, type in "SqlLocalDb Info" within the cmd window.

You should have "v11.0" as your response. This lets you know the version of the database that has been installed.

Now that you see you have your local database, you need to create the database instance. To create your database instance, you will need to type the following within the cmd window, SqlLocalDb create "DatabaseInstanceName"

Within this example I will be calling the database instance PRFTInstance.

After running the following create instance command you should receive the message, "LocalDB instance "DatabaseInstanceName" created with version 11.0"

Now that you have your database instance created you will now need to start the database instance. To do this you will need to type the following within the cmd window, SqlLocalDb start "DatabaseInstanceName"

You should now see your database instance started.

Now that we have the database instance created and started, lets check on the status and other details about your database instance. To find this information you will need to type in the following within the cmd window, SqlLocalDb info "DatabaseInstanceName"

You should now see details in regards to your database instance.

Create a Database for the Instance

Now that you have created your database instance and validated your instance lets now create a database for the instance. To create the database we will need to use sqlcmd. SQLCMD is a command line application that allows SQL queries to be written and executed from the command prompt[1] To use SQLCMD you must have SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express installed, which you have already done.

Before we can use SQLCMD we need to change the directory within the cmd window to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\

This will allow you to use SQLCMD which will allow you to create your database. Within the cmd window, type the following directory path, cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\

Connect with SQLCMD

This will change the directory to the new path. Now let's connect to your created instance with SQLCMD.

To connect using SQLCMD, you will need to type the following within the cmd window;

sqlcmd -S (localdb)\DatabaseInstanceName

1> SELECT @@VERSION;

2> GO

The following will start the SQLCMD within your database instance and the @@VERSION will return the version, architecture, OS version and build date for current instance.

Write the Query

Once you have applied SQLCMD to your database instance, you can now go ahead and write the query to create a database.

To create a database you will need to type in the following within the cmd window;

1> CREATE DATABASE DBNAME;

2> GO

1> USE DBNAME;

2> GO

For this example my database name will be PRFT_DB.

Your database will now be created. Now let's validate our install, database instance and database using have SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express.

Validate the Install

To open SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express click on the lower left hand side "Start" windows button then open folder Microsoft SQL Server 2012 then select SQL Server Management Studio.

This will open up SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express.

Now that your SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express has opened you will need to type the following within the Server Name, "(localdb)\DatabaseInstance" then click the connect button.

This will log you into your local database instance you created.

Now that you're logged into your local database instance, lets validate the database you created. To do this, open up the database folder within the Object Explorer within SQL Server 2012 Management Studio.

You should now find your local database in which you created.

I hope this step by step instruction helped you install SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express as well as help you create your local database instance and database on your Windows 7 PC.

[1] www.sqlserverspace.com/SQLServerGlossary.html

About the Author

Chris Evans has extensive management, technical, consulting and customer service skills. He provides hands-on expertise in project leadership and management, assessments, methodologies, data modeling, database design, meta data, systems analysis, and development. He has worked with multiple platforms, and his experience spans a wide range of operational and data warehouse environments. In addition to his BI background, Chris Evans has a experience in marketing strategy for major consumer brands.

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