Error: 'Ad hoc update to system catalogs is not supported' (4323567)

When attempting to open an instance in the GUI, the following error message may display:

"Ad hoc update to system catalogs is not supported."

The 'sp_configure 'allow updates' parameter' configuration in SQL Server 2000 allowed or disallowed direct system table updates.

In SQL Server 2005, this configuration item still exists, but it is obsolete since direct access to system tables is always prohibited. While the configuration item is obsolete, having it set to '1' in SQL Server 2005 requires you to run the RECONFIGURE statement using WITH OVERRIDE, otherwise you will get the error message "Ad hoc update to system catalogs is not supported."

Run the following in Query Analyzer:

exec sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE;
GO
sp_configure 'allow updates', 0;
GO
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE;
GO

Also, see SOL91879