Legacy Update: Get back online, activate, and install updates on your legacy Windows PC

Microsoft SQL Server Compact 4.0 is a free, embedded database that software developers can use for building ASP.NET websites and Windows desktop applications. Download the documentation to learn about SQL Server Compact 4.0 and to build applications for it.

• SQL Server Compact 4.0 enables new scenarios, and has a host of new features including support for ASP.NET web appliations, new T-SQL syntax, new APIs etc. Books Online is the primary documentation for SQL Server Compact 4.0. Books Online includes the following types of information:
  • Setup and upgrade instructions.
    
  • Information about new features and backward compatibility.
    
  • Conceptual descriptions of the technologies and features in SQL Server Compact 4.0.
    
  • Procedural topics describing how to use the various features in SQL Server Compact 4.0.
    
  • Tutorials that guide you through common tasks.
    
  • Reference documentation for the graphical tools, programming languages, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that are supported by SQL Server Compact 4.0.
    
  • You can download the sample databases from the SQL Server Compact samples site.
    
    
  For more information on WebMatrix visit the links below:
  • Top 10 WebMatrix Features
  • More about IIS Developer Express
  • Install WebMatrix with Web PI

Files

Status: Deleted This download is no longer available on microsoft.com. The downloads below are archives provided by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine from the Microsoft Download Center prior to August 2020.

File	SHA1 Hash	Size
ReadmeSQLServerCompact40_ENU.htm	3a4166be7c8d8dc33ce38cd2b9b88d8d09722eea	8 KB
SSCEBOL-ENU.msi	8662a7acb27ff800cff3b30441b67a1a13ced058	14.06 MB

• 
  
  • Microsoft .NET Framework: The Help viewer used by Books Online requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0. Download one of the following versions of the .NET Framework 2.0:
    • .NET Framework for x86.
    • .NET Framework for x64.
    • .NET Framework for ia64.
  • Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1.
  
  
  • Windows Installer: Windows Installer 3.0 is required to install SQL Server Compact 4.0 Books Online. Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and later versions of Windows include Windows Installer 3.0. For all other operating systems, you must first download and install Windows Installer 3.0.
  
  
  • Side-by-side installation: Installing different languages of the SQL Server Compact 4.0 Books Online in different folders on the same computer can result in problems. Install the different languages in the same folder and in case of any issue, reinstall the Books Online.
  
  

• 1. To download the Books Online, begin by installing .NET Framework 2.0. Download one of the versions from the System Requirements section.
  
  
  2. Click the Books Online Download button on this page to start the download, or choose a different language from the drop-down list and click Go.
  
  
  3. Do one of the following:
  
  
  • To start the installation immediately, click Run.
  
  
  • To save the download to your computer for installation later, click Save.
  
  
  • To cancel the installation, click Cancel.