How to find whether that service pack file is a 32 bit or 64 bit?
Whenever a service pack is released it will be available for 32-bit and 64-bit that also includes for SQL Express 2005 edition too, as it was for MSDE earlier. Since last year (I think) Microsoft Development team has adopted a standard in naming schema for all service pack updates aka they call it now as a software update packages for SQL Server when they are distributed for public download.
By default the update file consists the .EXE file that will have relevant files to apply on a particular SQL Server isntance. These files are distributed by MS PSS to the customers and always it is a best practice to test and apply the critical or recommended updates. Also they are available from the MS Download Center or MSDN. Not only that now a days blogging sites have been helping in getting the upto date information on such releases.
So going further into details of new naming schema Microsoft has specified under a KBA-822499 as follows:
New schema for naming SQL Server software update packages
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Microsoft uses the following schema to name SQL Server software update packages:
ProductName-KBArticleNumber-BuildNumber-Version-Platform Identifier-Optional Field-Language Code.exe
For example, the following update packages are named according to this schema:
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Microsoft SQL Server 2000: SQL2000-KB123456-8.00.0000-x86-ENU.exe |
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Microsoft SQL Server 7.0: SQL70-KB123456-7.00.0000-x86-ENU.exe |
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Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services: SQL2000.AS-KB123456-8.00.0000-x86-ENU.exe |
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Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Notification Services: SQL2000.NS-KB123456-x86.exe |
The following list provides information about each attribute in the new naming schema.
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ProductName: The full product name, including the product version information. For SQL Server, this attribute is one of the following:
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SQL2000
For SQL Server 2000 |
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SQL70
For SQL Server 7.0 |
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SQL2000.NS
For SQL Server 2000 Notification Services |
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SQL2000.RS
For SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services |
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SQL2000.AS
For SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services | |
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KBArticleNumber: The Microsoft Knowledge Base article id that is associated with the software update. |
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BuildNumber: The SQL Server build number that includes the software update. For example, in SQL2000-KB840223-8.00.1007-ia64-ENU.exe, the build version of SQL Server is 8.00.1007. This will correspond to the file version of Sqlservr.exe and to the returned value from @@version run against this server instance. |
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Version: An optional field that indicates the version of the software release. Typically, this field is omitted unless the package is rereleased. Therefore, every package that has not been rereleased has a default "-v1," which means that this is the first release. If a package is rereleased, this information is added to the package name and to the properties as "-v2." This field will be incremented as many times as the package is rereleased. |
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Platform Identifier: This field is used to indicate on which processor architecture the particular hotfix package runs. The current options are the following:
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x86
This package runs on x86 platforms. |
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ia64
This package runs on Itanium IA-64 platforms for 64-bit. |
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x64
This package only runs on AMD x64 and compatible systems. |
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x86x64
This package will install x86 binaries on both x86 platforms and x64 platforms. | |
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Optional Field: For SQL Server hotfixes, this optional field is used to indicate certain other installer limitations that affect your choice of correct packaging. The only Optional Field that is currently used is NT98ME. NT98ME indicates that the package is designed only for certain Microsoft Windows operating systems. For example, consider SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-ENU-NT98ME.exe and SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-ENU.exe. The first package will only run on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition. The second package will only run on Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. |
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Language Code: This field specifies which language version of the product is supported by this hotfix package. If no language code is specified, the hotfix package is not localized. The hotfix package successfully updates any language version of the product. If a language code is specified, the hotfix package can only be installed on products that are installed in the same language. For example, SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-ENU.exe can only be installed on an English installation of SQL Server 2000. The installation will fail if SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-ENU.exe is installed on a German instance of SQL Server 2000. You receive a message that SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-ENU.exe is the incorrect language for that product. Instead, you must install SQL2000-KB905765-8.00.1030-x86-DEU.exe on a German instance of SQL Server 2000. |