Resolving installation error: "Please install a version of Microsoft SQL Server (2005 or later) that is supported on your operating system and run Acctivate setup again."

Sometimes during a new install on the server the installer may return error code 84C40034 or a message regarding SQL server not being supported by the OS. Check out this article for a potential fix.

Error code 84C40034 can have a couple of different meanings. It's important to note that this is usually a SQL server related error. Here's a few different scenarios and ways to fix the error code.

Scenario 1: You're using Windows Server 2012 R2 and lower and trying to install Acctivate on a new server:

Acctivate distributes SQL Express 2019 which is not compatible with Windows Server 2012 R2 and lower. You have two options to fix this:

• Upgrade to Windows Server 2016 or higher.
• Install your own version of SQL server Express 2017 and then use the command line installation method to install Acctivate without SQL 2019.
  1. How to install SQL server 2017 express
  2. How to install Acctivate without SQL 2019

Scenario 2: You're on Windows server 2016 or later and trying to install Acctivate on a new server OR you're trying to update Acctivate on any version of Windows Server.

For updating Acctivate on any version of Windows Server (that Acctivate is compatible with) or installing Acctivate on a new Windows 2016 server or later, the most common fix is to run pending Windows updates and perform a reboot.

Pending Windows updates will lock up important Windows/SQL components that Acctivate needs to update or install.

If there are not pending updates, then simply perform a reboot of the computer.

If none of the above suggestions fix the error code, contact Acctivate Support.