Ville Lucander (9/11/2012)
Sorry, I've never heard of "servername@dbname" being a connection string for the native SQL Server connections. So I'm still blank on this.==> this works anyway
Not saying it doesn't. Just saying I have absolutely no idea what this is.
FYI: I can't answer questions about nameless third party tools. You'll have to contact the vendor about that issue.
==> IMO, I'd say this is not a matter of third party software. Informatica will definately work, if the connectivity is there.
Again, not saying the third party tool is the problem. I'm just saying I can't answer that question because I don't know what third party tool you're using and I'm not the vendor. (I don't know anything about Informatica either).
I'll put it this way. if I secretly install Sql2000 client to the new server, will it not destroy the curren 2012 client? and I could try the connection to this 7.0 database....
Each installation of SQL Server has its own set of tools, dlls, and drivers (which is what I think you're actually talking about) that come with it. If you install SQL 2000 *over* the folder in which SQL 2012 is located, then yes, you'll ruin the install of 2012. Of course, I'm not even sure if it will let you install it that way.
You can, however, install SQL 2000 in its own folder (I did this after installing SQL 2005) so that you have all the SQL 2000 tools in one spot that do not conflict with the tools of the other SQL installations. So, if you need the SQL 2000 client and connectivity tools, that's the route I recommend you go. Install in a different folder after installing the newer versions (to make sure the newer versions don't overwrite the old tools).