Can I install SQL Server 2000 on Windows 7

I found this update from Microsoft's Release Services: http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2009/10/23/sql-server-on-windows-7-and-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx

The reason given for not supporting 2000 on Vista/Win7 is because of LUA/UAC issues.

Hi,

Although you can install SQL Server 2000 on Windows 7 with some workarounds, it will not work properly. You can see several errors in both the database server and in Enterprise Manager MMC.

Only SQL Server 2005 SP3 or greater and SQL Server 2008 SP1 or greater are supported in Windows 7 by Microsoft.

SQL Server 2000 isn't supported on Vista+ OS's. The install will be blocked by Windows. Migrating MSDE to SQL Express may be the best option.

I will add the little bit I've seen with it. Don't expect to patch up to 2282. I'm not sure at what point it breaks between SP4 and 2282 though.

There are several great answers here, but it is worth adding that there are ways of working around the fact you can't run it natively.

The obvious one is to use SQL Server 2005 SP3 and run the database in compatibility mode for 2000. That is certainly not the same as actually running SQL Server 2000, but it is good enough for most applications and better for a few.

Also remember that you can run an earlier version of windows as a virtual machine inside Windows 7. I have not tried that with SQL Server 2000, but I cannot think of any reason it would not work well.