How to uninstall SQL 2005 Express Edition / MSDE / SSEE

If you use SQL 2005 Express Edition/MSDE/SSEE with your installation of Sharepoint, CRM or whatever, when you decide to uninstall those products SQL 2005 Express Edition will not be uninstalled. So, you will end up with "orphaned" copy SQL 2005 Express Edition, which will prevent you from installing any other applications that use it.

To uninstall SQL 2005 Express Edition:

1. Open Registry and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
2. Browse through the entries and find the one that says "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition" or something like that
3. Copy the value of UninstallString into clipboard (Ctrl-C). Example of UninstallString value is "MsiExec.exe /X{6E740973-8E71-42F9-A910-C18452E60450}"
4. Open Command Prompt

Paste the command from clipboard and add "CALLERID=OCSETUP" at the end of the command and hit Enter. This will run an Uninstall Wizard, which will help you to uninstall SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
Example of the uninstall command:    MsiExec.exe /X{6E740973-8E71-42F9-A910-C18452E60450} CALLERID=OCSETUP