I’m having trouble changing the server collation on my SQL Server 2005 instance. I need to use SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin as the collation because my application vendor didn’t consider database collation properly. Their stored procedures and temporary tables use server-level defaults, so I can’t use the standard collation that was set during installation.
When I first installed SQL Server, this specific collation wasn’t available in the setup options, so I went with the default setting. Now I’m trying to change it using the rebuild database command but it’s not working as expected.
I’ve been attempting to use this command:
setup.exe /q /ACTION=RebuildDatabase /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /SAPWD="password" /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="BUILTIN\ADMINISTRATORS" /SqlCollation=SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin
The problem is that instead of running silently, it launches the installation wizard. After accepting the license agreement, it just shows me the command usage help instead of actually rebuilding the database with the new collation.
Has anyone encountered this issue before? What could be causing the command to fail?
sounds like ur running setup from the wrong place? i had same issue, had to run the command from the original install media, not from program files. also, try removing the /q switch and run it manually first to check if it accepts your collation setting b4 automating.
The rebuild database approach you’re using is correct, but the command syntax appears to have some issues. Instead of using /q for quiet mode, try using /QUIET=True or /QUIET=1 as the proper parameter format. Additionally, ensure you’re running the command from the correct directory - it should be executed from the SQL Server installation media or setup files location, not from the installed SQL Server directory. Before attempting the rebuild, verify that the SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin collation is actually supported by running SELECT * FROM sys.fn_helpcollations() to list all available collations on your system. If the collation isn’t listed, you may need to install additional language packs or consider alternative approaches like creating a custom collation that meets your application requirements.
wait, are you backing up your databases first? rebuilding will wipe everything clean and you’ll lose all data. also curious - have you tried checking if that specific collation is even available on your system? what happens if you run the command without the /q flag to see the actual error messages?