Repair/Remove/Install processes for SQL Server 2012 Express get stuck or hung

Question

An instance of SQL Server 2012 Express became corrupted somehow.
I suspect it was related in some way to my use of Entity Framework, but have no proof yet.

When

Answer 1

I found just stopping the SQL Server background process from Task Manager to unblock it. It seemed that the SQL Server instance was having trouble stopping in Services.msc