Pls guys help me out. I installed visual studio.net 2010 express and later uninstalled it when a friend gave me professional edition 2008. I want to develope a sql server database for my windows application with my visual studio but it can't even connect even using sql server management studio express i downloaded. Is it that i don't have sql server installed? But i checked my installed programs and microsoft sql server 2008 is there. I tried to repair it but it could not as a file was missing. What's happenin because i'm new into programmin and i wish to go into .NET. Should i download another one and which site? Does it mean i don't have the server yet? Pls bear with my questions. I don't know much about it. I thank God i have you guys here for help. Thanks for contributing anything.

Oops. Try uninstalling and reinstalling them all.

VURN:

Pls guys help me out. I installed visual studio.net 2010 express and later uninstalled it when a friend gave me professional edition 2008. I want to develope a sql server database for my windows application with my visual studio but it can't even connect even using sql server management studio express i downloaded. Is it that i don't have sql server installed? But i checked my installed programs and microsoft sql server 2008 is there. I tried to repair it but it could not as a file was missing. What's happenin because i'm new into programmin and i wish to go into .NET. Should i download another one and which site? Does it mean i don't have the server yet? Pls bear with my questions. I don't know much about it. I thank God i have you guys here for help. Thanks for contributing anything.

Your problem is that you do not know how to connect to Sql Server. In order to solve your problem, you need to post the full error message.
Before then, a little test you can do is create a new file with a ".udl" extension. Double click on it, set the properties and see if it connects to your database. If it does, open it in notepad, copy the connection string (without the provider) and use it in your code.

Uninstall and re-install it!

Thank you all for your replies. I later discovered that i'm supposed to put "sqlexpress" after "name of computer\" in the server name text box. When i correctued it, it tried to connect but displayed a message that i can't use sql studio 2005 wit sql server 2008. So i have to install sql mgt. Studio 2008. Thanks so much cos I've learnt.