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We have an application that installs a custom instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express as part if the whole installation process.

Microsoft states that SQL Server 2005 Express is not compatible with Windows 8, but in reality it seems to install and work perfectly fine.

The only problem is that during the installation a dialog appears saying it's not compatible, and offers options to get help online, continue with the installation anyway, or cancel. If you chose to continue anyway on all these incompatibility prompts, then the SQL server instance is installed without any problem whatsoever.

Does anyone know if there is a way to suppress these incompatibility messages during the SQL service installation (or any installation, for that matter)?

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If you're distributing software to your customers that is using a version of SQL Server that Microsoft deems incompatible, then you need to update your software to work with a newer SQL Server, not trick the installer into not alerting your customers that you're being slimy. Also, you say "Obviously MSSQL 2005 Express works just fine on Windows 8". How have you tested this? Have you gone through the same rigorous testing or do you know the fine inner-working of the product like Microsoft has? They're the company that designed the thing, don't you think they'd know if there were issues? – MDMarra Nov 1 '12 at 15:43
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If you're distributing software to customers, you shouldn't need anything else. If Microsoft doesn't support it, you're putting your customers into a bad situation. Seriously, SQL Server 2005 is almost 8 years old now. Spend some R&D money and get your product working on SQL Server 2012. If I were a customer of yours and saw this post, I'd never do business with you again. It's just ugly. – MDMarra Nov 1 '12 at 15:49
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You're asking the wrong crowd. The IT admins here see this question as you (the vendor) screwing us (the customer) over. We don't want outdated, unsupported software on our systems. – longneck Nov 1 '12 at 15:55
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You're getting push back because hiding a warning from Microsoft so that your customers don't know about it is a shitty thing to do. This is a site for professionals. What you're asking for is decidedly unprofessional. – MDMarra Nov 1 '12 at 15:56
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@Angel Then get your application compatible with SQL 2008 R2 SP1 (or newer), so that it will work on both Win8 and WinXP. – pauska Nov 1 '12 at 15:58
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closed as not constructive by MDMarra, Adrian, Michael Hampton, pauska, Tom O'Connor Nov 1 '12 at 16:03

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1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

Just because you installed it and it worked doesn't mean it will work for all of your customers.

And because you've forced them to install an unsupported piece of software, they are no longer able to get support from Microsoft.

When it doesn't work, who are you going to ask for help? Microsoft? Nope!

That's a great way to trash your reputation and lose customers over crappy support experiences.

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