I'm running XP pro, installed .Net 2003 and MSDE. I have the instnwinds.sql
and other files. I tried downloading and running the install utility offline
and it didn't work. I tried following doc to run osql.exe but had something
wrong, got no error message and found no log. The command window came up and
ran for ~ 60 seconds, but no pubs database anywhere. I tried finding the
install utility again online so I could run it online, but I can't find it
and the doc I have points to a changed page that no longer provides access
to the install utility. Can anyone direct me to the install utility or help

Have you ever searched for an answer for hours and not find it until you ask
for help? Since I don't know how to delete the query, I'll post the solution.

I spent > 12 hours searching docs from Microsoft web site and trying various
things before asking for help. Then I found a different doc with a command
that worked. At first I was using all variations of:
<full path to osql.exe> -E -S (local)\NetSDK -i <full path to grocer.sql>

The command that worked for me was:
<full path to osql.exe > -E -i "<full path to grocer.sql>

For anyone new to Win development (like me), the easiest way to get the
<full path> into a run command is to do a search for what you want, then
click on “Start, run” and then drag the found item from the ‘search’ window
onto the ‘run’ window. Windows expands the full path correctly and will
concatenate to an existing command string.

The main difference between these two commands is “-S (local)\NetSDK”. I
assume this portion specifies a parm that’s important to a DBA in a
multi-user environment. I also assume that “(local)\NetSDK” have to be
replaced by actual values that match the local environment. However, in my
single-user environment, that seem to not be necessary, at least to get the
sample databases into Visual Studio 2003.

I hope this helps someone else.


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