You should be able to run SQL2000 on XP no problem
Nope:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/system-requirements.mspx
SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition can run on the following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2003 R2
• Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition1
• Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition2
• Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition3
• Windows® 2000 Server
• Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
SQL Server 2000 Evaluation Edition and Developer Edition and Workgroup Edition can run on the following operating systems:
• Operating systems listed above for Enterprise and Standard Editions
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows 2000 Professional
Note the absence of XP in the top list. If you run the SQL 2000 Standard installer on XP, it will terminate with an 'unsupported operating system' message.