SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 Coexisting in Windows 7 machine

Question

Some SQL Server 2005 and 2008 questions.

1) Can they coexist on the same Windows 7 machine without issues?

2) Can you attach and run 2005 databases to SQL Server 2008 without compatibility issues or is this a no go?

3) Does SQL Server 2005 even work on Windows 7?

Answer 1

1) Yes.

2) You can view 2005 database under 2008 management studio, not sure about hosting them under a 2008 instance though. I'm fairly confident they do, but not sure if it's native or via converting to a 2008 database.

3) Yes.

Note that you can't have 2005 MS and 2008 MS (management studio) installed on the same OS. This was based on my experience a long while ago when 2008 first came out, I got an error message stating that I couldn't install it because of a previous version (2005) being installed, or something akin to that. Turns out it has changed.

Answer 2

1. Yes, both can coexist on the same machine without issues.
2. Yes, however, once you attach a 2005 database into a 2008 instance, you have upgraded it to 2008 never to go back to 2005 unless you export the data into some universal format. You can however, have both engines running simultaneously and can use either set of management tools to see either database (although some features will only work with the 2008 management studio working against the 2008 database)
3. Yes. Both sets of tools (including Management Studio) and services can coexist on the same machine (I have this very setup). The only thing you cannot do is to have both engines listening on the same port. Thus, one of the two will have to be a named instance.