How to uninstall AdventureWorks sample databases?

Question

How can I uninstall the AdventureWorks sample databases? They're not an application, so I can't do it via Add / Remove Programs or a downloaded uninstaller.

They're apparently corrupt, and they've been trouble from the git-go. The machine crashed when installing them. When I try to access them via SQL Server Management Studio, the machine crashes. When I try to reinstall them without uninstalling them, the machine crashes.

The setup prgram is SQL2008.AdventureWorks_All_Databases.x86.msi (yes, my machine is 32-bit) which I downloaded from http://msftdbprodsamples.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=18407, which a couple other folks have told me worked fine for them. And my installer is up to date, and the only system requirement (a correct version of Windows) has been met.

I don't want to guess which files I should delete manually - that could be inviting trouble.

In summary: help!

Answer 1

A "Database" can be "uninstalled" by just dropping the db.  Go to a new query window, and point to your master database.  Then, for each "sample" database that you installed, issue the following command:

DROP DATABASE DatabaseName

This will delete the data and log files for the database.  That said, I don't believe that a database could ever cause your computer to crash altogether, so I suspect that you're facing some more fundamental issues here.  Perhaps AdventureWorks is written to bad disk sectors, and reading said sectors is causing Windows to flake out.

I would run a chkdsk to verify your physical disks' integrity, and a memory scan to make sure that your RAM is okay.

Hope this helps.

---

Aaron Alton | thehobt.blogspot.com

Answer 2

A "Database" can be "uninstalled" by just dropping the db. Go to a new query window, and point to your master database. Then, for each "sample" database that you installed, issue the following command:

DROP DATABASE DatabaseName

This will delete the data and log files for the database. That said, I don't believe that a database could ever cause your computer to crash altogether, so I suspect that you're facing some more fundamental issues here. Perhaps AdventureWorks is written to bad disk sectors, and reading said sectors is causing Windows to flake out.

I would run a chkdsk to verify your physical disks' integrity, and a memory scan to make sure that your RAM is okay.

Hope this helps.

---

Aaron Alton | thehobt.blogspot.com

Thanks for your reply!