I have a GoDaddy account and have used their CMS Wizard to install an instance of DNN on the server and get it up and running.  Now, I'd like to bring the site files down to my PC and be able to run the site locally as well (using Visual Studio).  I've FTP'd the site files to my local PC but don't know what steps to take next.  

I have VS2010 locally but don't know what settings to change in my web.config to work with the database as it is on the server, or do I need to create a local DB?  When I try to do a build I get a bunch of errors (I suspect because everything in the web.config is pointing to a server instance and not a local instance)  Are there any tutorials or procedures that I should be reading on how to do this?  Should I install it locally, then move it the the server instead?  HELP!

Thanks!

Rich,

If you can backup the database from GoDaddy's control panel and then download the database you should be good to go.  If you need the file structure for your site you can get that via FTP.  So with your files & database that should be all you need.  

I would set up a new local instance of DotNetNuke on your local machine and use the database that you downloaded as the database for your local instance of DNN.  

If you're working inside of Visual Studio its mostly for module development and when you build you'll just build your modules.

I would advise you to spend some time watching the videos on the video library page, specifically the installation, upgrades, & backups section which is the first section. That should help you get a local instance up and running that matches your remote instance on GoDaddy + get you pointed in the right direction with development.

Hope this helps!

CBP