title: How to connect to SQL Server 2000 database from Visual Studio 2012
body: <p>I have a SQL Server 2000 database that I need to access from Visual Studio 2012. Needless to say the data provider for SQL Server requires SQL Server 2005 or above, and the data provider for OLE, which claims to support SQL Server 2000 or above, says "SQL Server Native Client 11.0 does not support connections to SQL Server 2000 or earlier versions."</p>
  
  <p>Is there some kind of plug-in I can install that will let me access SQL Server 2000?</p>
  
  <p>Eventually my app will live ON the server itself. Is it going to need something special to access this older database?</p>