I'll start by admitting this is all my fault... A coworker "cleaned up" my computer and deleted the SQL server. I reinstalled it and was able to recover a copy of my DNN database, but I can't get the site to work. I tried re-installing DNN 4.09, but when I got to the part of the install where it was reading the database scripts, it seemed to go into a continuous loop. The install screen went for more than 20 minutes giving me more and more "undefined:successful" entries. I finally aborted. Now when I try to access the site, I get the following error.

Source Error:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   DotNetNuke.UI.Skins.SkinDefaults..ctor(SkinDefaultType DefaultType) +190
   DotNetNuke.Common.Globals.get_DefaultSkin() +31
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings.GetPortalSettings(Int32 TabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +3388
   DotNetNuke.Entities.Portals.PortalSettings..ctor(Int32 tabId, PortalAliasInfo objPortalAliasInfo) +76
   DotNetNuke.HttpModules.UrlRewriteModule.OnBeginRequest(Object s, EventArgs e) +3391
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +68
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +75

Is there anything I can do other than destroy my existing data and really start over from scratch?

Lois

Hi Lois,

Indeed you do not have to reinstall DotNetNuke when using an existing database and matching codebase.

Start by verifying the sql connection string in your web.config.
Make sure it points to the correct server and database and that you are using the correct user credentials.
Also check wether this user has enough permissions on this database.

Please let us know how you're efforts are progressing.

Greatings,
Alex Reinermann

One more update. I saved a backup copy of my SQL database, and then I deleted the original. I started a fresh install of DNN 4.09, thinking if I could get any version of my app to run, I could then go and replace my database with the copy that has data in it. It doesn't work. I can't get the install wizard to kick in. I've double-checked my permissions and my files. I went through the installation guide point-by-point against my config file...