I have two instances of SQL Server:

• Server1 (SQL Server 2008)
• Server2 (SQL Server 2005)

I am executing a stored procedure from Server1 which references tables on Server2.

It is working fine in my test environment:

• Server1 runs Vista SP2, SQL Server 2008;
• Server2 runs Windows XP SP2, SQL Server 2005.

However, it is not working in the production environment:

• Server1 runs Vista SP1, SQL Server 2008;
• Server2 runs Windows XP SP2, SQL Server 2005.

The error message I receive is:

OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI10" for linked server "Server2" returned message "No transaction is active.".
Msg 7391, Level 16, State 2, Line 21
The operation could not be performed because OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI10" for linked server "Server2" was unable to begin a distributed transaction.