Restore old backup on a SQL Server 2012

Question

We have many customers that are resilient to changing or upgrading continuously their working environments. So when upgrading, we have to be able to upgrade from very old environments to the newest ones. In this sense, we must be able to manage old backups in a transparent way. SQL 2012 has put us on a huge problem because it does not recognize these backups, and we need to answer our customer in a positive and promising manner that they won't loose their data. The message we are receiving from the server is:
The database was backed up on a server running version 8.00.0760. That version is incompatible with this server, which is running version 11.00.2100. Either restore the database on a server that supports the backup, or use a backup that is compatible with this server.
Obviously there is no backup compatible with this server, and the original SQL 2000 server already was upgraded to SQL 2012. Is there a simple way of recovering the data contained on this old backup or similar ones?

Answer 1

Hello,

Yes, SQL Server 2000 backups are not supported on SQL Server 2012. Microsoft SQL Server only supports 3 previous versions.

Try downloading an evaluation copy of SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 and restore using that version of SQL Server. Then from there upgrade to SQL Server 2012.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Alberto Morillo
SQLCoffee.com

Answer 2

Hello

I'm trying to restore the database of SQL Server 2008 R2 in sql server 2012 but i'm getting following error:-

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError: The database was backed up on a server running version 10.50.1600. That version is incompatible with this server, which is running version 10.00.2531. Either restore the database on a server that supports the backup, or use a backup that is compatible with this server. (Microsoft.SqlServer.SmoExtended)

I need to restore my SQl server 2008R2 file in sql server 2012 , so let me know how I can make compatible.

please help

Answer 3

BOL has the answer for you: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143393.aspx

YOu need to be at a minimum of SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 if you have 2008 R2. 1600 = RTM. So upgrade your SQL instance to SP1 or later, make a new backup, and then it can be restored under 2012.

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Allan Hirt Blog: http://www.sqlha.com/blog Coming in 2013: Mission Critical SQL Server 2012 - the followup to Pro SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering