Applying SP4. Do you have to provide sa password?

I have never applied a service pack to sql server 2000. Someone tells me that you have an option of supplying the SA password but do not have to and the service pack is applied just as if you did supply the SA password. This sounds odd to me. So, is it true? I am asking because our server instance shows "SP4" but a fix that was supposed to be included in SP4 was apparently not as the problem persists (link from sql server 2005 to 2000 fails when referenced in sql2005). I was thinking that whoever ran the service pack may not have provided the SA password so some of the SP4 was not applied?

Cannot obtain the schema rowset "DBSCHEMA_TABLES_INFO" for OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI" for linked server "s-1". The provider supports the interface, but returns a failure code when it is used.

Thanks.

The service pack ask for the password, It allows to continue without a password, and it provides a notice about the dangers of so doing.

So yes, the service pack may have been properly applied without a password -IF the sa account did not have a password.

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There are two ways to log into a SQL Server. One is by specifing a login and password, such as the "sa" login. The other is by using the Windows Creditentials which the user has logged into the operating system with. When installing the service pack you have the option of logging in with which ever method you would like to; either the "sa" account or the Windows account.

What command is being performed when this error comes up?

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The above errors arise when trying to issue a select statement on the 2005 server which references tables on the 2000 server which it is linked to. I thought perhaps the person who applied the service pack 4 may not have done it correctly. I was not there, and have never done it myself. The message may imply missing components.

ex. On 2005 server: Select * From linked2000server.mydb.dbo.mytable

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Can you query any tables over the linked server, or is this one the only one causing the problem?

If it's every table a sp4 reinstall may be in order on the SQL 2000 server.

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