Thank you again hooligannes. I'm going to stay on point in this messge rather than offer a rebuttle. It probably goes without saying but my conclusion was reached as a result of resorting to using the SQL Server specifice parameters as suggested. The mere fact that it worked suggested, apparently incorrectly, that either the connection string values were incorrect or it was meant for another database. The DNN documentation that I read eliminated the possibility of the latter.

Your most recent recommendation is what lead to my investigating elsewhere, but only after using much of the information that I found in the forums and making numerous atttempts to troubleshoot the issue without success. As I mentioned in closing my last response, I'm still curious to know why the connection string you offered does not work in my case, just as I was prior to searching elsewhere for my answer. Now your comment on the SQL Authentication is an interesting point and could be the source of my installation challenges. I'm currently using Mixed Mode but I will investigate using either SQL or Windows authentication.

Looking ahead though, should I decide to use DNN in a production setting which would be the best mode to use? Secondly will the ASPNET or equivalent Windows Server user account be able to do its thing irrespective of the authentication mode I choose?

Further investigation. I have been posting at several threads that it is important to read the Installation Guide. In this post my point is confirmed with first hand experience. The connectionstring format depends on the DB the developer chooses to use and the Authentication mode of that DB. Up until today, I had only been using DNN 3; just by reading the document I succesfully installed DNN 4 at my first attempt ever.

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