SQL Server 7.0 query problem

i get this error when i tried to INNER JOIN 2 Views (each view contains a few sub queries/views). pls tell me what is the problem.

“Could not allocate table for query optimization. Maximum number of tables in a query (256) exceeded.”

i’m sure the total amount of tables involved in all the queries doesn’t exceed 256. each of the views prob has abt not more than 10 sub views. therefore the total number of all involved tables shouldn’t exceed 20.

btw, how do i turn off Query Optimization? i’ve unchecked the Auto Create Statistic and Auto Update Statistic in the database properties.