Getting error 2337 installing SQL Server on a VPC?

I usually have a number of different versions of SQL Server around, installed on Virtual PCs. Usually works fine. So I was a bit surprised when installing the RTM version of SQL Server 2008 R2 from the downloaded .iso file to receive error message 2337 in the middle of the install. Thinking it was something wrong with my download (IIRC 2337 is a some kind of IO error during install), I re-downloaded the .iso. Same error. I then tried installing SP2 on my virtual Windows Server 2008 OS, then installing SQL Server again. No luck. Moved the .iso from the portable Passport drive to the C: drive on the host OS. Nope. Since this error occured during install of SQL Server database itself, there was no possibility of "guess I'll do without that component". Hmmm….

Finally I explored the possibility that this might be a problem with VPC2007SP1 .iso reader, the one that allows you to mount an ISO file as a virtual DVD. That's what I always use when dealing with ISOs on a VPC, (usually) works great. To eliminate this as a variable, I burned a physical DVD from the ISO, and mounted it on a remote computer, connecting to it as a network share. I could have tried physical DVD on the host, but was too lazy to swap the ATA disk for the DVD (it was my laptop). This worked fine, no IO error, everything installed great.

Since then I've also installed SQL Server successfully on a physical 64-bit laptop (no virtualization, but 64-bit version of SQL Server vs 32-bit on VPC, likely different installed files) from the exact same ISO, on my Passport drive, mounted using a free program, Virtual Clone Drive. No problem. But… I've heard of the exact same error from others on install to Windows Virtual PC (ie the one that you use with Windows7 host).

There's too many combinations to test them all out, but should you receive install error 2337 when installing SQL Server 2008 R2 on a VPC, you can likely benefit by the workaround. Of course, the nice thing about installing (especially betas, but even released software like this) is if you have a problem during install, you just delete the install-failed copy of the VPC image and try again.

12 thoughts on “Getting error 2337 installing SQL Server on a VPC?”

  1. Thanks so much for this post, Bob! It described exactly the problem I was having. In fact, I ended up going through pretty much all of the troubleshooting you did, and then I found your post. This does seem to be an issue with the Windows Virtual PC ISO image. Rather than burn a physical DVD, I just mounted the disc on my host machine and copied the extracted files to a folder on the computer. I’m still running setup, but I expect it to work properly. I wouldn’t have suspected this issue and might have given up if it wasn’t for your post. Thanks, again!

  2. And I thought I was the only "lucky" guy on the planet to have this.:-)

  3. Hi Bob,

    I haven’t tested this on Virtual PC 2007 yet, but succesfully installed multi-instance R2 VMs on both Hyper-V and Windows Virtual PC (Win7). Key advantage in WIN7 is that you can point it directly to your already extracted USB file, meaning that you wouldn’t need to extract.

    Another method I use is to put all my installation files directly into a VHD file (which is very easy to attach).

  5. I’ve got the same issue – glad to see this post. Copying the files from the mounted iso on the virtual PC to the virtual PC C: drive and installing from the C: drive does not work either. I am trying the physical DVD thing now… What an annoying issue and a complete waste of time 🙁

  6. I’ve used the dev. edition iso from MSDN as the media in several VMs running in Hyper-V. It seems to work fine there in case anyone is interested.

  7. Thanks for the info, as I was having the same problem; thought it was a bad download, but the SHA-1 matched exactly which left me puzzled, then thought it was the firewall, disabled that and still that error — going to try using daemon tools to mount/install from VPC2007. I’m just toooooo lazy to burn a disc 🙂

  8. Thanks Bob, I was struggling with the error 2337 for 2 days. After reading your workaround i manage to overcome it by using a virtual cdrom to mount the iso instead of burning the iso into a physical disc.

  9. Thanks Bob, yo really save my day with this post, I’ve been doing all the steps you mentioned before except for the virtual CD.

  10. Many thanks, I found this post after the second failed install, including a rollback to the core VPC image. Much appreciated! 🙂

  11. Your post was very helpful, thanks a lot.

    I encountered this problem and reinstalled SQL Server 2008 R2 using Daemon tools on the host and mounting the daemon drive on the guest machine, thus bypassing the ISO mounter provided by Virtual PC.

    Cheers,
    Emanuel

  12. Why oh why could I have not run across your blog post sooner! I’ve been banging my head against a wall trying to get R2 installed on a virtual pc image over the last day. Great post!

    Thanks,
    Matthew Campbell
    http://www.nanaroo.com

Comments are closed.

Other articles

Imagine feeling confident enough to handle whatever your database throws at you.

With training and consulting from SQLskills, you’ll be able to solve big problems, elevate your team’s capacity, and take control of your data career.

Collaborate With Us
Choose a Course