I was able to view table content easily before, but after I
reinstalled everything, I cannot find the option to view table content
in MS SQL Server Express. I can define table with no problem. Check
out the screen snapshot below, from which you'll see that the popup
menu frrom right-clicking on the table name does not have the "Open
table" option. What is going on?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/4...39620d0b_o.png

It seems you are not connected to an SQL Server Express Edition
server. Instead, you are connected to a SQL Server Compact Edition
server, which is a different thing.

Razvan

On Mar 19, 1:55 am, "Razvan Socol" <rso... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Yes, yes, you are very right. I also notice that. But how come? I
did download the package from the SQL Server Express website. It is
the one which says "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with
Advanced Services". The installation file has a name SQLEXPR_ADV.EXE,
which is 256M.

Is this the right one? Well, at installation, I did custom install
and made all components available from the local machine.

Pls give me hint, how do I properly install the Express Edition
instead of the compact Edition?

Thanks.

I guess that both SQL Express and SQL Compact are installed now. It's
only a matter of connecting to the desired one. When the "Connect to
Server" dialog appears in Management Studio Express, make sure you
choose "Database Engine" in the "Server type" combo (instead of "SQL
Server Compact Edition").

Razvan

On Mar 19, 12:07 pm, "Razvan Socol" <rso... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
You are right again. Yes, both "Database Engine" and "Sql Server
Compact Edition" show up in the combo. The problem is that I cannot
connect to .\SQLEXPRESS with Database Engine selected, using Windows
Authentication.

What error message do you get (below "Cannot connect to .
\SQLEXPRESS") ?
a) "An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the
server [...] Error Locating Server/Instance Specified"
b) "Login failed for user 'COMPUTERNAME\username'"

I guess that a). In this case, go to Start / Programs / SQL Server
2005 / Configuration Tools / SQL Server Configuration Manager. Under
"SQL Server 2005 Services" do you have any entry with the "SQL Server"
as the "Service Type" ?

If yes, try to connect to the instance name specified there (if it's
the default instance, just try to connect to ".").

If no, then the Database Engine seems to be not installed; when you
reinstall SQL Server, make sure that "Data files" and "Shared tools"
under "Database Services" are selected. Then remember what choice you
make in the Instance Name screen.

Razvan

On Mar 19, 3:44 pm, "Razvan Socol" <rso... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Hey, Razvan, you really rock!

Exactly that was the problem. I checked the configuration manager.
It looks like that I don't have SQLEXPRESS. The instance name seems
to be MSSQLSERVER.

My computer name is EMACHINEXPPRO and I can connect to the SQL Server
by typing in this computer name as the Database Engine or like you
said, simply put a dot (.) instead.

Connecting to MSSQLSERVER or .\MSSQLSERVER results in error (error
code 53 or error code 87). See the screen snapshot below.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/4...f5145e32_o.png

Good that I can connect to it using my computer name now. Many
thanks.

AL