Hi

A techie friend tried to help me get started on DNN, but due to slow PC performance and lack of time, we had to abandon the setup. So ...can I please ask if anyone can help me complete the installation and get started? I have the Instructions for Install pdf but it tells me I need this and that, which I haven't got or I can't answer the questions.

First of all, though, maybe I should ask you this. I am using XP Home. Am I wasting my time setting up DNN on it?  If yes, go to end (all is not lost as I'll be getting a Windows 7 PC later this year) ... else please continue!

I've listed below info about my PC which I hope will help you suss out where I'm up to.

Spec
Dell Dimension 4300
Win XP Home SP3
Intel Pentium 4 1.7Ghz
768Mb RAM
My login has administrator rights and I can change file-system permissions

Software installed
M/S Visual Web Developer
SQL Server 2008 Express 
ASP NET MVC 1.0
IIS 7 Manager


The following are the folders I could find that I recall my techie friend setting up with me. I want to create a 'health' web site, hence the name.

C:\dotnetnuke\skins\   (contains Containers.zip and skins.zip)

C:\development\websites\health
and
C:\development\websites\myfirstsite

Both contain what look like the DNN files, i.e.
(folders - admin, App_Browers, etc)
(files - DotNetNuke.config,KeepAlive.aspx, web.config etc)

So .. here are questions that I need answering ...

1. I want to use the PC as a client and server. Although it might run like a dog, is it practical to do this?

2. Where do I extract the 2 zip files to (or has this taken place in the 'health' and 'myfirstwebsite' folders?)?

3. The DNN installation notes make reference to IIS and ASP.NET. Although Control Panel tells me I have IIS 7 Manager, I don't see it in System Information (as I'm on XP?) Do I need IIS, and if so, how do I get it on XP? Presume this is web server software, so could I use another?

4. SQL info - I am set up to login via Windows Authentication, my server roles are public and sysadmin, and I have no Credentials. I have a db called 'health' set up. What more do I need to do in SQL?

5. How do I test that the SQL d/b can be accessed from the web server?

I've probably missed out other important questions (in which case sorry), but I would really be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

Many thanks in anticipation

Tim
 

I tried but it won't allow me to download it, saying I have XP Home. I was however told it could run on that. I have downloaded M/S Visual Web Dev. Could it run using that - or am I best abandoning installing on this PC completely?

One final question - the more I look at the DNN site, the more I think DNN is for programmers. I thought I would be able to create a basic web site using the GUI's skins and containers - and have been told DNN is "the future" of web programming, superseding Dreamweaver etc. If I need a decent level of VB, ASP.NET etc programming knowledge before I can use DNN properly, please let me know and I will seek that out first.

Cheers

Tim