sql server 2005 install hangs at 'Removing Backup Files'

I’m installing sqlserver 2005, and it seemed to hang towards the end of the installation.

The installer hung while it was installing ‘Workstation Components, Books Online’, with the progress message being ‘Removing Backup Files’. As it happened I kicked this off at the end of the day, and it was still hanging the next morning

Sql 2005 progress box

I checked the installer log but there was nothing very interesting

<Func Name='LaunchFunction'>
Function=Set_CommitFlag
<Func Name='GetCAContext'>
<EndFunc Name='GetCAContext' Return='T' GetLastError='0'>
Doing Action: Set_CommitFlag
PerfTime Start: Set_CommitFlag : Mon Jan 26 16:46:51 2015
<Func Name='Set_CommitFlag'>
Can I commit?
Set_CommitFlag called successfully.Committed
<EndFunc Name='Set_CommitFlag' Return='0' GetLastError='0'>
PerfTime Stop: Set_CommitFlag : Mon Jan 26 16:46:51 2015
<EndFunc Name='LaunchFunction' Return='0' GetLastError='0'>

It turned out to be very much a problem between the chair and the keyboad.

At the start of the install I’d had this warning message: Sql 2005 warning message

I wasn’t too worried about it - I’m installing an old version of SQL on a newer OS - but I left the warning message window open…partly so that I could investigate further later.

Anyway…as soon as I shut that warning window down, the install kicked back into life and soon completed.