SQL SERVER – FIX: Error 14001: The Application Has Failed to Start Because its Side-by-side Configuration is Not Correct

There are so many ways to break things in the operating system. In this blog, we would learn about fixing error “The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is not correct”.

While working with one of the clients, their Jr. DBA asked me for a quick help and I couldn’t deny it. He informed that on one of his development servers, SQL Service is not getting started. As usual, I asked for error messages which they are seeing.

Here is the error when they try to start SQL Server service.

Windows could not start SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service on local computer.
Error 14001: The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is not correct.

Then, I asked to check system event log and application event log to see if they have any additional errors. We found the SideBySide error I application log.

Log Name: Application
Source: SideBySide
Event ID: 33
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Description: Activation context generation failed for “C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe”. Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.ATL,processorArchitecture=”amd64″,publicKeyToken=”1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b”,type=”win32″,version=”8.0.50727.4053″ could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

I searched on the internet and found many tools who claim to fix this error. Never download such tools as they are viruses and malware.

WORKAROUND/SOLUTION

From SideBySide message, it looks like an issue with some Visual C++ (Microsoft.VC80.ATL) component file is missing. So, we performed following actions by going to Add/Remove Programs in the control panel.

1. Repair “Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)”
2. Repair “Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)”
3. Download and install – Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package ATL Security Update 32 bit
4. Download and install – Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package ATL Security Update 64 bit

If above doesn’t solve the issue, then you need to find the right version of C++ runtime which needs to be installed as it would depend on SQL Server version.

If you find any other solution, please share via comment to help others.

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)

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