SOLUTION: Instance Name Specified is Invalid during MSDE SP3 upgrade

From: SQL Server Development Team [MSFT] (sqldev@microsoft.com)
Date: 01/29/03 

From: "SQL Server Development Team [MSFT]" <sqldev@microsoft.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 15:34:55 -0800

SOLUTION: Instance Name Specified is Invalid during MSDE SP3 upgrade

Problem Description:
Several of you have encountered problems running the Service Pack 3 setup
where setup fails immediately with a message "The Instance Name Specified is
Invalid".

Resolution/workaround:
If upgrading a default (unnamed) instance the correct command line is
 setup /upgradesp sqlrun

If upgrading a named instance specify INSTANCENAME=<your-instance-name> on
the command line as well.

Background/clarification:
There are two readme files included in the "desktop edition" download
package for SP3. The first, "readme.txt" is only needed when you are
upgrading from MSDE 1.0 to MSDE 2000. The correct command line syntax,
referenced above, can be found in the "SP3README.HTM" file, section 3.7.
This section also includes the command line options beyond instancename.

If you are still getting "The Instance Name specified is invalid" error
messages after verifying the correct command line and instance name, please
reply to the group and we'll see if we can help you isolate the issue. For
now, I hope this helps and apologize for the inconvenience and delay in
getting a resolution on the newsgroups.

Regards,
Tom Casey.

PS -- I am cross-posting this and a few of the more common
problems/resolutions to multiple newsgroups. Please pardon the duplication. 

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