Before Installing: Checklist

Back up your Microsoft® SQL Server™ version 6.x installation if you are installing SQL Server 7.0 on the same computer.
Shut down all services dependent on SQL Server. This includes any service that is using ODBC, such as Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).
Shut down Microsoft Windows NT® Event Viewer and Regedt32.exe.
Review the hardware and software requirements for installing SQL Server.
Create a domain user account to assign to the MSSQLServer, SQLServerAgent, and MSDTC services if you are installing SQL Server on Windows NT and plan to perform any server-to-server activities. For more information about domain accounts, see SQL Server Services Logon Accounts.
Log on to the system under a user account that has local administrative privileges.

Select a character set, sort order, and Unicode collation. If you need to change any of these later, you must rebuild the databases and reload the data. It is recommended that you develop a standard within your organization for these options. Many server-to-server activities may fail if the character set, sort order, and Unicode collation are not consistent across servers.
Review all other SQL Server installation options and be prepared to make the appropriate selections when you run the Setup program.