Giving a laptop to a new user when CRM 4.0 Offline Mode is installed on it

When someome leaves a company, or their laptop is replaced and they get a new laptop, their old laptop goes somewhere. If that somewhere is to a new user and that laptop had an installation of CRM 4.0 configured in Offline Mode installed on it then you will get the following error message when you attempt to run the Configuration Wizard to set up CRM within Outlook for the new user:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access has already been configured for a user on this computer. Only one user can be configured per computer for Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook with Offline Access.

This problem is down to the existance of the CRM SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database on that computer. Uninstalling CRM and reinstalling it does not fix the issue, and it would be fixed by removing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as well – but that is overkill.

All you need to do is to remove the MSCRM_MSDE database. And the easiest way to do this is to use the osql command line tool.

1. Start > Run > type cmd and press Enter (or type cmd in the search box in Vista/Windows 7).
2. In the Command Prompt type osql -E -S pcname\CRM and press Enter.
3. At the number prompt type drop database mscrm_msde and press Enter.
4. At the next number prompt type go and press Enter.
5. Finally type quit followed by Enter to exit from osql.

You can now run the CRM 4.0 Configuration Wizard for this new user and choose Offline Mode if you wish – a new database will be created.