Installing SQL 2005 from CDs

When you order SQL 2005, you get either a DVD or 2 CDs.

CD 1 contains server components and CD 2 has the tools components. To launch setup from CD 1, you can double click on setup.exe and walk through the setup.

However, in case you don't want to run setup from your CD drive, you can copy the contents of both the CDs on a local disk or at a network share.

To do that, create a folder on a disk drive that has enough space. Under that folder, create two folders - one called Servers and the other called Tools.

Copy the contents of CD 1 to the Servers folder and CD 2 to the Tools folder. To run setup, double click on setup.exe and it will launch the wizard.

When the setup needs files from the CD 2 (now, the contents of the Tools folder), it will automatically pick it up and will continue with setup, without prompting you to insert CD 2.