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I recently installed a new virtual VMWare machine for development purposes. The machine has Windows 8.1 (64 bit), Visual Studio 2013 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition, all with latest updates.

Today I wanted to create a new Alias in the SQL Server Configuration Manager. I have previously done this for MS SQL 2012 on Windows 7 and it was straight forward. But on Windows 8.1 I was unpleasantly surprised. All dropdowns in SQL Server Configuration Manager properties are broken - they are narrow and do not display any options. Here is a screenshot:

Broken dropdown for Alias

I thought that only the Protocol dropdown is broken, but I noticed the same issue with other dropdowns, even for simple Yes/No values:

Broken dropdown for Alias

I've heard from some people that some programs render broken on Windows 8 (one example was Office Live Meeting which has cropped configuration dialog) but haven't seen something like this before.

I tried to disable 3D rendering for VMWare but that didn't help.

What is wrong with these dropdowns and how do I fix them?

JustAMartin
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2 Answers2

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I had the same issue, see this workaround, here:

Configuration Manager Snapin dropdownlists are broken: empty and gray.

Choose the Workarounds (1) and it reads:

Do not use the version of SQLServerManager11.msc in the C:\Windows\System32 directory on Windows 2012 64 bit (possibly extended this to any 64-bit OS?) the drop-down boxes are gray and inaccessible for the options.

Instead use the version in C:\Windows\SysWOW64 as it appears to avoid this issue.

Community
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Louis van Tonder
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Go to cmd and type run and paste the following cmd :

c:\\Windows\SysWOW64\compmgmt.msc

You can configure and the dropdown will be visible.

Bernard Nongpoh
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