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Installing the SQL Express 2016 on Windows 10 fails. Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed.

Issue

Installing the SQL Express 2016 included in the PME2020 iso file (13.1.4001.0) or directly downloaded from the Microsoft download center fails with error messages such as:

“Component name:                        SQL Server Database Engine Services Instance Features
Component error code:               0x851A001A
Error description:                          Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed. Check the SQL Server error log for potential causes.”

Installing the SQL Express 2016 downloaded from the Microsoft download center fails with error message such as

“SQL SERVER – Script level upgrade for database ‘master’ failed because upgrade step msdb110_upgrade.sql encountered error 926, state 1, severity 25”

The SQL service won’t start normally.
The SQL service can be forced to start with trace flag 902 to bypass upgrade script and fix the cause of upgrade script failures (See link 2)

Environment

Windows 10 Professional (x64 bits)
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (10.0.18363)

Cause

Since the April Windows 10 update there has been an option "Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" when setting regions.
SQL Express 2016 did not install correctly, “something" broke in such a way that the SQL Server master database was not able to come online, and the SQL services did not start properly.

Resolution

Uninstall SQL Express
Go to the control panel
Click on regional settings
Go to the administrative tab.
Go to the language for non-unicode programs “Change system locale…”settings button
Uncheck the checkbox use utf-8 for the language support in all the world

When prompted, restart your computer. Then, you can deploy the SQL installation and should run successfully
Additional information: You might need to make sure the current windows user has been granted privileges to deploy the installation. Refer to link 3 for more information.

Links