I attempted to pre-install SQL Express, but since it is not installed by PM, when the default ewdgs user is created, I ran into rights issue.
Yes, there are some manual steps that must be performed when pre-installing an instance of SQL Server. I'm pretty sure they're documented.
But perhaps the most significant thing I'm getting from this is that you were able to successfully install *SQL Server* on this machine, which suggests there may be some special issue with the PM installer.
I see from the case notes that the support rep has contacted engineering for further action.
At this point you have two options:
- Complete the manual configuration of the pre-installed SQL Server x64 Express Edition instance, and then install PM using this instance (and note you'll be running on an x64 database engine in that case).
- Wait for the ticket to resolve the issue with installing the 32-bit instance.