Problems with sp_addlinkedserver in SQL Server 2000

I'm having a bit of a problem with moving specific data from one server running SQL Server 2000 (A) and another running SQL Server 2008 (B). I'm writing a script according to customer specifications which is to be executed on A, populating tables in B with data. However, I can't seem to get the server link to work.

-- Bunch of declarations here

EXEC sp_addlinkedserver @server = @ServerName,
            @srvproduct = @ServerProduct,
            @provider = @ProviderString,
            @datasrc = @RemoteHost

-- Data migration stuff here

EXEC sp_dropserver @ServerName

Now if I run the script in its entirety I get an error saying:

Msg 7202, Level 11, State 2, Line 55 Could not 开发者_StackOverflow社区find server 'remoteServer' in sysservers. Execute sp_addlinkedserver to add the server to sysservers.

However, if I highlight only the sp_addlinkedserver part and execute that, there is no error and I can highlight the rest of the script and run it. What am I missing here?

Please help!

PS. If backup-restore was an option, I would have done that already.

The problem is that SQL Server is trying to validate the code before it runs it. To show that, try putting one of your commands in EXEC(). Try putting a GO after the sp_addlinkedserver command.