>>>But you still haven't said what the exact same error is !
>>
>>I said it a couple of times. The Setup thinks that I don't have .NET 4.0 and VS Shell 2010 installed. Trying to install from the CD always fails with the exact same message.
>
>You've said the message is exactly the same but not *exactly* what it is :-}
>
>>>>It wants to get vs_setup.msi for VS 2010 Ultimate and I have no idea where to get it.
>>>
>>>MSDN downloads presumably?
>>>
>>The question is - how will I get to the right download and how can I download it after my MSDN subscription has already expired.
>
>I think the answer the the last part is simple at least - you can't :-{
>
>>>Never tried this but it might help : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144256.aspx
>
>>I'm not upgrading my existing SQL Server 2008 R2, I want to install SQL Server 2012 as a new instance and switch between them at will.
>
>It's not actually going to change anything but might throw a little more light on why things appear to be missing....

Ok, I went to Add Programs and Features and uninstalled everything related to SQL Server 2012 I found. Now, how can I be sure I completely cleanly uninstalled it?