SQLManagementStudio_x64_ENU.exe is not a valid Win32 Application

06Jul10

Today I installed SQL Server Management Studio Express (standalone) on a brand new Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 machine.

After downloading the install from Microsoft and running it, I received the following error:

“SQLManagementStudio_x64_ENU.exe is not a valid Win32 Application”

I assumed I had some weird versioning issue, and read all kinds of blogs about internal db’s included with Windows Server, etc.  Come to find out, the download was corrupted, and re-downloading the file, solved my problem.

So in the end it was trivial, but I figured I would post about it, because the error message wasn’t very telling of what was actually happening.

Filed under: Software Evaulation and Tips   |  4 Comments

4 Responses to “SQLManagementStudio_x64_ENU.exe is not a valid Win32 Application”  

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  1. 1 webthaumaturge on Aug 12th, 2010 said:

    Thanks! I received the same error and after downloading again it worked.

  2. 2 tonalq on Nov 26th, 2010 said:

    Thanks – I had this too after slow download with IE – the file was 40Mb too small. Tried again with Chrome and much quicker but still not quite big enough. Tried again with Chrome and file the right size and started OK, but then reported corruption. Eventually I went through MSDN and that was OK, though obviously not an option open to everyone. I find this just plain weird, having never had problems like this before. Thanks for putting me on the right track.

  3. 3 TamB on May 29th, 2011 said:

    Thanks, same issue & same fix.

  4. 4 Tom on Dec 16th, 2011 said:

    THANKS FROM ME TOO!

    Spent at least an hour searching for clues…

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