How to install SQL Server 2005 Express in Windows 8

Question

I tried to install SQL Server 2005 Express SP3 x64 on Windows 8 but the installer gives me an error:

An installation package for the product Microsoft

Answer 1

I found that on Windows 8.1 with an instance of SQL 2014 already installed, if I ran the SQLEXPR.EXE and then dismissed the Windows 'warning this may be incompatible' dialogs, that the installer completed successfully.

I suspect having 2014 bits already in place probably helped.