Purpose:

SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and earlier are not supported by the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 family. This article will show you how to work around this problem.

Support for SQL Server 2000:

SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and earlier are not supported by the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 family. When you install SQL Server 2000 on a computer running Windows Server 2003, you receive the following warning message:

SQL Server 2000 SP2 and below
SQL Server 2000 SP2 and below is not supported by this version of Windows. To run the program, click continue. For more information, click Details.

Additionally, you may experience unexpected behavior.

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Edition (MSDE) Service Pack 2 (SP2) and earlier are also not supported on Windows 2003, but you do not receive a warning about them during the installation.

SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services SP2 and earlier are not supported on Windows Server 2003, and you will receive this warning message.

Cause:

This behavior occurs because SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and earlier and its components are not supported by the Windows Server 2003 family.

To solve this problem

Follow these steps

To solve this behavior, install SQL Server 2000 SP3 or later immediately after you install SQL Server 2000.

If you are currently running SQL Server 2000 SP2 or earlier and you want to upgrade your operating system to Windows Server 2003 upgrade to SQL Server SP3 or higher, and then upgrade your operating system.

SQL Server 2000 New Installation

If you are installing SQL Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 at the same time, follow these steps:

1. Install Windows Server 2003.

2. Install SQL Server 2000.
   
   Note: You will receive the warning message. When you do, click OK.

3. Upgrade to SQL Server SP3 or later.