SQL 2005 and VS 2005 on Vista

To run SQL Server on Vista, you're going need Service Pack 2,  you can find the link in my previous post on SQL 2005 SP2. Make sure you check the Vista provisioning checkbox after the service pack completes. This will allow you to properly configure the SQL administrator accounts.

If you are installing Reporting Services in Vista you need to configure IIS 7 for IIS 6 compatibility, otherwise you'll get a message about "IIS Feature Requirement". This because  the SSRS pre-requisites checks for IIS 6 and not IIS 7.  IIS 7 comes with some IIS6 compatibility extras that will allow you to install SSRS. You will need to go into "Turn Windows features on or off" in control panel and install following IIS 6 Features found under Internet Information Services 

Web Management Tools

• IIS 6 Management Compatibility

• IIS 6 WMI Compatibility

• IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility

World Wide Web Services

• Application Development

  • .NET Extensibility

  • ASP.NET

  • ISAPI Extensions

  • ISAPI Filters

•  Common HTTP Features

  • Default Document

  • Directory Browsing

  • HTTP Redirection

  • Static Content

•  Security

  • Windows Authentication

Lastly if you are running SSIS packages with scripts you will need this hotfix.

For Visual Studio 2005 you'll need to run Service Pack 1 which you can get here. Depending on what features that you have installed, the service pack may take several hours to run and you'll be prompted several times to answer yes or no. There has been discussion that you can reduce the installation time by not installing C++, so if you don't need it, it may be worth it to leave it out.

You'll also need to install the Visual Studio Service Pack 1 update for Windows Vista, which you can get here. This update insures backwards compatibility with UAC and Areo.