I created a personal website using the Microsoft personal website starter kit (http://www.asp.net/downloads/starter-kits/personal/) then tried to run it in Visual Web Developer 2008. When I did so, I got the error msg shown below.

My OS is Win XP Home and I am running Visual Web Developer in an admin account.

I do not have an ASP.NET machine account on my computer. (As an aside, I think they are no longer needed for ASP.NET 2 - is this true?)

Regards,
Ming

Server Error in '/asset db' Application.
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Failed to generate a user instance of SQL Server due to a failure in starting the process for the user instance. The connection will be closed.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Failed to generate a user instance of SQL Server due to a failure in starting the process for the user instance. The connection will be closed.

Source Error:

The source code that generated this unhandled exception can only be shown when compiled in debug mode. To enable this, please follow one of the below steps, then request the URL:

1. Add a "Debug=true" directive at the top of the file that generated the error. Example:

<%@ Page Language="C#" Debug="true" %>

or:

2) Add the following section to the configuration file of your application:

<configuration>
   <system.web>
       <compilation debug="true"/>
   </system.web>
</configuration>

Note that this second technique will cause all files within a given application to be compiled in debug mode. The first technique will cause only that particular file to be compiled in debug mode.

Important: Running applications in debug mode does incur a memory/performance overhead. You should make sure that an application has debugging disabled before deploying into production scenario.

Stack Trace:

[SqlException (0x80131904): Failed to generate a user instance of SQL Server due to a failure in starting the process for the user instance. The connection will be closed.]
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection) +4846887
System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj) +194
System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj) +2392
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.CompleteLogin(Boolean enlistOK) +35
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(ServerInfo serverInfo, String newPassword, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, SqlConnection owningObject) +144
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginNoFailover(String host, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Int64 timerStart) +342
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.OpenLoginEnlist(SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +221
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Object providerInfo, String newPassword, SqlConnection owningObject, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +189
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningConnection) +4861315
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreatePooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnectionOptions options) +31
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(DbConnection owningObject) +433
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.UserCreateRequest(DbConnection owningObject) +66
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.GetConnection(DbConnection owningObject) +499
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection) +65
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory) +117
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() +122
PhotoManager.GetRandomAlbumID() +129
PhotoManager.GetPhotos() +8

[TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.]
System.RuntimeMethodHandle._InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, SignatureStruct& sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner) +0
System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner) +71
System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks) +350
System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture) +29
System.Web.UI.WebControls.ObjectDataSourceView.InvokeMethod(ObjectDataSourceMethod method, Boolean disposeInstance, Object& instance) +488
System.Web.UI.WebControls.ObjectDataSourceView.ExecuteSelect(DataSourceSelectArguments arguments) +1247
System.Web.UI.DataSourceView.Select(DataSourceSelectArguments arguments, DataSourceViewSelectCallback callback) +19
System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataBoundControl.PerformSelect() +142
System.Web.UI.WebControls.BaseDataBoundControl.DataBind() +73
System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormView.DataBind() +4
System.Web.UI.WebControls.BaseDataBoundControl.EnsureDataBound() +82
System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormView.EnsureDataBound() +166
System.Web.UI.WebControls.CompositeDataBoundControl.CreateChildControls() +72
System.Web.UI.Control.EnsureChildControls() +87
System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +44
System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +171
System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +171
System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +171
System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +171
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +842

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Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.3603; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.3082

My OS is Win XP Home and I am running Visual Web Developer in an admin account.

I do not have an ASP.NET machine account on my computer. (As an aside, I think they are no longer needed for ASP.NET 2 - is this true?)

It doesnt matter anyway because XP home doesnt have IIS. Visual studio 2005 and above have an inbuult web server (cassinni) used for debugging (this was added because you previously in versions 2002 and 2003 couldnt develop ASP.NET apps at all on Home). This runs as the current user, unlike IIS, which uses a series of minimally-privileged service accounts such as the previously mentioned ASP.NET machine account (which, yes, isnt needed for ASP.NET 2)

So thats not your problem. Your problem seems to be making contact with your SQL Express instance. Check you have it installed, that the service is started, and that your firewall isnt blocking it.

Firstly, thanks for having a look at my prob.

I agree, the prob is making contact with SQL Express 2008.

It is installed. I can connect to it using SQL Server Management Studio.

I have no firewall installed.

Regards,
Ming

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