>>>
>>>I found that File.CreateText() is easy enough method to create a simple text file. So far it works on my PC. Next thing I will be testing it on the user server.
>>
>>If you are using the ASP.NET Development Server then it probably would work - whether it will work on the production server as-is is a very different matter. What is the IIS /OS version on that machine?
>
>I found that creating a text file using File.CreateText does work on the Server 2003. So this gives me ability to debug using this approach. I will still try the event log method; if anything, but to learn how it works.
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Making the class that writes to the event log is the best way to define errors that are happening on the system / your app that are necessary to capture so you can fix and not present the beast to the user.

When you can't connect to the db, this is a safe catch for that message.

YMMV