SQL 2012 - An error has occurred while trying to access the license validation file. Please reinstall SQL server to correct this file.

I had an evaluation copy of SQL Server 2012 installed which expired yesterday. Even though a had subsequently installed a valid copy SQL 2012 Enterprise I could not open the management studio.

Based on advice in other articles I completely un-installed all additions of SQL Server on the machine followed by a fresh install of SQL 2012 Enterprise (64bit).

I now get the message "An error has occurred while trying to access the license validation file. Please reinstall SQL server to correct this file."

A previous post suggested the below, what should I do for a 2012 install to correct the issue?

"Hi Kevin,

It should be a known issue. It is caused by that the setup fail to create the checksun key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\ClientSetup because of sqlboot.dll issue.

To fix the issue, please follow these steps:

1. Create a text file with the following content:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\ClientSetup]"checksum"=hex:38,39,33,66,66,66,30,65,62,38,32,62,30,34,37,62,31,30,35,31,36,\
    38,32,31,30,30,63,63,36,36,33,30,30,31,35,36,38,61,38,33,36,31,37,63,66,62,\
    31,61,38,61,36,63,32,66,36,35,32,31,39,65,66,34,30,30,39,32,62,37,61,39,32,\
    62,32,35,33,32,33,39,63,62,36,35,33,38,65,31,66,34,61,31,33,63,61,64,32,65,\
    33,34,37,66,37,64,30,64,33,32,32,64,36,36,62,31,62,66,33,66,63,34,34,65,65,\
    35,37,38,34,63,61,65,66,33,64,31,30,31,31,38,65,30,37,63,39,66,66,31,32,61,\
    66,66,63,35,32,32,31,64,61,34,34,32,34,64,37,34,66,63,37,30,39,35,32,32,39,\
    38,62,31,63,34,34,65,66,35,00"ProductID"="00001-296-0000007-05075""DigitalProductID"=hex:a4,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,30,30,30,30,31,2d,32,39,36,2d,\
    30,30,30,30,30,30,37,2d,30,35,30,37,35,00,0a,00,00,00,38,31,30,2d,30,37,34,\
    31,36,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,34,49,a3,e1,b4,0c,65,79,03,e0,fe,9e,92,01,00,\
    00,00,00,00,02,19,9f,4a,c3,75,c1,0a,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
    00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,34,36,31,30,33,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,65,05,\
    00,00,77,b1,01,90,af,0f,00,00,17,0d,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
    00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,a7,a1,77,36

2. Change the file extension to be .reg
3. Double-click the file to create the keys
4. Uninstall the SQL Server Management Studio(SSMS)
5. Re-install the SSMS

Now, we should be able to open the SSMS and connect to SQL Server instances.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Jin Chen