Also worth mentioning is that .NET 2.0 does not accept/require the "Provider=" attribute in the connection string, which can throw an error.

SQL Server 2005 Express is a little odd with its server name.  Try specifying the server as:

MACHINENAME\SQLEXPRESS

Additionally, there is a 15 character limit on the machine...

Ok, same question: what are your connection properties in VS 2005?

What are your connection properties?  It could be that the authentication used in VS is not correct.

I enjoyed reading your short article and I would like to make two statements:

First, I'm amazed that companies would even consider NOT having the original developers maintain the application.  In...