Trying to install SQL Management Tools on my machine threw an error related to Visual Studio 2008 not having SP1.

I installed Sp1… Same error.

I tried uninstalling Visual Studio. It threw up on registry errors, office errors, etc. I removed office, fixed the registry errors – still no luck.

I forcefully removed Visual Studio using Perfect Uninstaller. Still no luck installeding SQL Management Studio.

Then I stumbled across this page: http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2008/08/11/sql-server-2008-visual-studio-2008-sp1-and-net-framework-3-5-sp1-explained.aspx

This page may help too: http://www.galcho.com/Blog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=4afabe28-002a-409b-9076-f7f6ee6bd55e

Removing the registry keys described in the article did the trick. Now lets hope I can get Visual Studio and Office back on here 🙂