Issue: Adding Management Studio to an existing SQL Express 2008 R2 instance can be extremely difficult and frustrating.
Solution:
The following links can be used to download SQL Management Studio 2008 R2 with SP1 or with SP2. If you are currently running SQL Express 2008 R2 SP3, then you will need to install management studio 2008 R2 with SP2, and then apply SQL 2008 R2 SP3.
SSMS 2008 R2 with SP1:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26727
SSMS 2008 R2 with SP2:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30438
SQL Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 3:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=44271
Resources:
Hi Chris! thanks for the link and sharing the knowledge too! Even though I used 2008 for a loooong time, right now it’s the first time that the most current SSMS version is not attached to the SQL Server media, so I highly reccomend that everyone goes to 2016 SSMS now. I made a new post with the direct download link to help: https://thelonelydba.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/sql-server-2016-management-studio-download/