thank you mr collins. im fixed and working now... just fyi to anyone reading this cause they are having the same probs as me here is the solution:

<connectionStrings>

<add name="SiteSqlServer" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Database=DotNetNuke;uid=myuser;pwd=mypw;Connection Timeout=5" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

<appSettings>

<add key="SiteSqlServer" value="Server=(local);Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Database=DotNetNuke;uid=myuser;pwd=mypw;" />

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*Chance Favors the Prepared Mind*

What if you're running SQL Server and not Express? I have a problem where I tried to used the Site Wizard. The last step resulted in the "An error has occurred. An error has occurred." page. I found the section in the web.config where the <connectionString> has an entry and <appSettings> has an entry. The <appSettings> entry looks like it changed the value from localhost to (local), but I don't have the Data Source setting in the string. I looked in the ODBC control panel, but there are no Data Sources set up there. The <appSettings> entry simply says "Server=(local); Database=DotNetNuke; uid=XXX; pwd=XXX" I assume the Server should be localhost, since I'm running it on the same box as the webserver and that's the setting I needed to get the site up and running in the first place. I don't know what the Data Source setting needs to be for either the <connectionString> entry or the <appSettings> entry, although I assume they need to be the same thing. I'll keep looking on the site, because I have seen this error mentioned before, and googling for it, but if anyone has an insight, I'd appreciate hearing it. Thanks so much!