I got the above error in the SQL Configuration Manager and googled for a solution. Unfortunately first few links were not satisfying, then I tried with some extra effort and found these details.

My box is running on Win 7 x64 and SQL Server 2008.

It is said that this error can occur in 2008 R2 as well. This is due to some bug or flaw in the installation process. I tried reinstalling the entire SQL Server Engine again I got the same error. Read the following forum discussion for more details.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqltools/thread/569ee2d4-0805-40e2-a4f0-10f7d573fd75/

Then I found another option of restoring the assemblies, using the command line. I tried that as well, but again I failed. Here’s the image of the executed command in CMD. Click the image to enlarge.

Now I’m in the process of upgrading my SQL Server 2008 to SP3. I can’t update it to 2008 R2 due to some project constraints.

Still I don’t know what is the exact reason for this issue.