Thought For Today: Microsoft is a RPIA (Royal Pain in the A**)

I believe the content of the subject is only too familiar to those who have ever tried installing Adventure Works Database on SQL Server 2008 Express edition. Full Text Search is not enabled; solutions suggested on umpteen weblogs and websites do not help. How can they help? MS has acknowledged there is a problem: Thank God for that. And yet, hotfix after hotfix and KB articles after KB articles one still cannot figure out if a solution actually exists. The KB articles proclaim that this problem exists and related searches lead you to
KB958186 - but to your horror after going through the motion of providing your email Id etc MS sends you a hotfix link that actually is meant to fix some other problem and not the full text search problem. Obviously you can't quite figure that out because the cumulative update package which ostensibly has solutions to known issues with MS SQL Server Express 2008 has a host of fixes "packaged in it" and you just don't know which one of those solutions pertains to the "full text search problem". So you just trust MS and download whatever they provide in the hope that some magic would happen. But of course it doesn't work.

You can refer to the following page MS acknowledgment of FULL TEXT SEARCH BUG. It has a fancy bug number too Bug #: 50003661(SQL Hotfix).

I am flabbergasted!!!

I am writing this to tell all those who may be struggling with THE FULL TEXT SEARCH ISSUE WHILE TRYING TO INSTALL ADVENTURE WORKS ON MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2008 EXPRESS EDITION: To the best of my knowledge a solution does not exist as of now so there is no point sweating about it. Just wait until MS can figure out how to fix it. Meanwhile you can try SQL Server 2005 which I am going to do now; apparently 2005 works fine. What a pain to go through the whole process and then have to revert to the older version. It sucks big time. Either way there is no choice.

Alternatively, if anyone knows of a solution, please do enlighten the strugglers. MS also has the gumption to CHARGE for fixing bugs it creates - refer to the MORE INFORMATION SECTION on this page MORE INFORMATION . No wonder Bill Gates is the richest (or somewhere close) man in the world! They create crap and then charge for cleaning up after. Awesome guys...