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I recently instaled an appliaction (Laptop version of CRM Client which installed an instance of MS SQL Server 2005 express on to my machine which I wanted complete rid of, after uninstalling the application I was dismayed to find that the SQL express instance was still installed. The SQL Express instance didn't appear in my Program and Features (Add / Remove Programs on Vista), so after a bit of hunting around I came across a tool called msiinv. This tools lists all the products installed using the Microsoft Installer and returns information about the install.
For Example the CRM Instance returned
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (CRM)
Product code: {2AFFFDD7-ED85-4A90-8C52-5DA9EBDC9B8F}
Product state: (5) Installed.
Package code: {89E33328-9DE4-4D67-9C7D-38962BD87052}
Version: 9.1.2047.00
AssignmentType: 1
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Language: 1033
Installed from: f:\6bcf4b106b526419dad4ebf5\Setup\
Package: sqlrun_sql.msi
Product Icon: C:\Windows\Installer\{2AFFFDD7-ED85-4A90-8C52-5DA9EBDC9B8F}\ARPIcon.ico
Help link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52152
Transforms: :SqlRun01.mst;:InstID02.mst;:InstName02.mst
Local package: C:\Windows\Installer\6c962c.msi
Install date: 2007\07\09
0 patch packages.
Once I had the Product code then I could use the Microsoft Installer appliaction (msiexec) to uninstall in using the msiexec /x {2AFFFDD7-ED85-4A90-8C52-5DA9EBDC9B8F}.
Before I ran the uninstall process I took note of the location of the database files for the CRM instance and after the uninstall finsihed I just deleted them.
References:
Aaron Stebner's WebLog - How to manually uninstall SQL Express if uninstalling from Add/Remove Programs fails