Hello,

During Installation SQL Server 2008 (Standard-Edition) on an ASUS Notebook
VS1N (plain x86 Windows 7 Ultimate OS, no other programs installed) I
encountered the following problem:

The setup program is executed with the default settings, but the
installation stops at approx. 80% with the following error message: (English
version) Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL
Server error log for potential causes. (German version) Fehler beim Warten
auf das Wiederherstellungshandle des Datenbankmoduls. Überprüfen Sie das SQL
Server-Fehlerprotokoll auf die möglichen Ursachen.

Result: the sa-password and the windows login users on the SQL-Server aren’t
saved/created from the setup program. All SQL-Server Services fail to start.
After switching the accounts for the start of the services from „local
system“ to „local service“ they are starting (during the setup program local
service is not allowed). After this, the service are working with both
accounts („local system“ and „local service“). The sa-password and the
windows users can be created manually in „SQL Server Management Studio” and
the server seams working. But afterwards the SP1 (which is highly recommended
for Windows 7) failed to installed (find below the error messages). Meanwhile
the following steps to resolve this problem are tried:

1. Appling KB 955768 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955768/de). All three
methods unsuccessful. (By the way, this article points to a wrong cause: the
notebook does not have VIA hardware)
2. Repair of SQL-Server Installation (unsuccessful. Message, English
version: No condition found for repair (or something like this) . German
version: Kein Zustand für eine Reparatur vorgefunden.)
3. New Installation (three times) of SQL-Servers, two times with new
OS-Installation (unsuccessful, always same error message)
4. SP1 Installation by Windows update (unsuccessful, error code: 84B20001)
5. SP1 Installation with standalone package (unsuccessful, Error message: A
failure was detected for a previous installation, patch, or repair for
instance 'MSSQLSERVER' during configuration for features)

Can anybody help me,
Thanks in advance
tes

No one any idea???

"tes" wrote:

I had the exact same issue.

Install as system account.





"tes" wrote:

me too

I don't know if it still applies to Windows 7, but the Microsoft
Support Article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920114 solved the
problem for me.

In addition to the summary message "wait on the Database Engine
recovery handle failed" I had the error message 15209 "an error
occurred during encryption" in the SQL Server error log.

As described in Article 920114, my problem was that the NETWORK
SERVICE account lacked permission to its own settings folder "C:
\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\".