Tim,

Take a look at Re: ConnectionString Message #688525

>I just installed MSDE and did the following steps.
>1) Set the setup.ini to the following options:
>
>[Options]
>INSTANCENAME=PDM_SQL
>SAPWD=pdm_sql
>
>TARGETDIR="C:\MSDE\Binn"
>DATADIR="C:\MSDE\Data"
>
>2) Then I started the resulting service MSQL$PDM_SQL
>
>3) I was able to connect using: osql –E –S localhost\PDM_SQL
>
>However, I am having problems connecting with ADO to the server.
>Note: the server will always be local.
>
>I use the following connect code:
>

>oConnection = CreateObject("adodb.connection")
>oConnection.Provider = "SQLOLEDB.1"
>oConnection.ConnectionString = "data source=TJM/PDM_SQL;initial catalog=MASTER;integrated security=sspi"
>**also tried: ConnectionString = "Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=master;User ID=sa;Password=pdm_SQL"
>
>oConnection.Open
>

>
>When connecting I get the following error: SQL Server does not exist or access denied
>
>I checked out http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=328306 but it didnt help.
>I also tried to disable the XP firewall.
>
>Does anyone have an suggestions of other things I could try?
>
>BR
>Tim