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Error encountered
While installing SQL Server Management Studio on one of the client machines, SQL Server Native Client Error 50000 occurred. This error code was described as “A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file.”
Description of Error
Here, I will describe and explain SQL Server Error 50000 and how to fix it so that SQL Server installation goes smoothly. Before I explain SQL native client error 50000, I’d like to explain what SQL Server native client is. According to MSDN, “SQL Server Native Client” is a term that has been used interchangeably to refer to SQL Server ODBC and OLE DB drivers. SQL Server Native Client is a technology that allows us to access data stored in a SQL Server.
When deciding whether to use SQL Server Native client or another data access technology, there are several factors to consider. You can find more information about when to use SQL Server Native Client in the attached article.
Typically, we encounter SQL Server native client error 50000 when installing or updating native client software or a software component that uses SQL Server Native Client, and your target machine already has this installed via a msi file.
This problem can also occur if the SQL Server native client file sqlncli.msi was renamed after installation, and you try to update it later today and receive SQL error 50000. If the native client installation file has been renamed on your machine, setup will fail to find its file to update SQL Server native client and will display the error shown below.
A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file <Filename>.”
Solution
- We can encounter the error while installing or updating native client software or a software component that uses SQL Server Native Client and the target machine already has this installed previously using some other installation file/ MSI file.
- We can also encounter the error if SQL Server native client file sqlncli.msi is renamed after its installation when we try to update, we will end up with the error.
To resolve this error, uninstall the installed version of SQL Server native client from the add/remove programme and then reinstall SQL Server or its component. There will be no error messages, and your software or native client will be installed. To avoid further problems, restart the machine after uninstalling and install again.
You can also prevent this error to not generate in future by not installing it using its msi file sqlncli.msi. If you had installed it using this file, make sure to never rename it as well.
What we have covered
I’ve demonstrated how to resolve SQL Server Native Client Error 50000, “A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file.” I hope you found this article interesting. To receive the most recent updates, please like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.