Installing And Connecting To A Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database
This tutorial will help you to install and connect to a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
Installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on Windows XP
First of all, download the most recent version (SP2) of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition from MSDN (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=65212).
Pre-requirements:
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.x must be installed on your target machine. You can download it from the following location:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/6/7/567758a3-759e-473e-bf8f-52154438565a/dotnetfx.exeYou must be logged on to Windows with a user which has administrative rights.
When you have downloaded SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, start the installation by double-clicking the downloaded EXE file. We strongly recommend you to close down Helium Music Manager whilst installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
When the installation starts, it will extract files needed during the installation process to your system temp folder.
After you have accepted the License Agreement, the installation will examine your system and install any required components automatically. These components will be listed as in the screen below:
Click Install to install any prerequisites. After the prerequisites are installed, click Next to continue with the installation. The actual installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition will now start.
Click Next to continue.
The next thing that will happen is that the installation will scan your system and present its status for you like in the screen below:
Click Next to continue with the installation.
The next screen that will appear is the Registration Information screen. Fill in your name and Company (optional). We recommend you to leave the checkmark Hide advanced configuration options selected unless you have specific requirements. Click Next to continue to the next step.
The next installation screen will be the Feature Selection step. You can generally leave the settings for this step as-is unless you have specific requirements. Click Next to proceed.
The next step is an important step. It will allow you to configure the authentication mode. By default Windows Authentication will be selected, meaning that you will use the same user account to access your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition databases as you use in Windows. It is recommended that you keep Windows Authentication Mode selected. Click Next to continue.
The next step will allow you to configure SQL Server user and administrator accounts. Make sure that Enable User Instances is selected. Click Next to continue.
The next step will allow you to configure how Error and Usage Report settings are configured. You can leave these settings as-is or change them if you prefer. Click Next to continue.
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is now ready to be installed. You can review which settings you have selected before you click Install to start installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. Click Install to start installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
During the installation process you will be able to see the progress of the installation:
Click Next >> when the installation is completed.
Click Finish at the last step to complete and close the installation.
You have now successfully installed SQL Server 2005 Express Edition!
In the next steps we will configure Helium Music Manager so that you will be able to use your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition to handle your music collection.
Configuring Helium Music Manager to work with a SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database
Please note that this guide will allow you to work with a SQL Server 2005 edition in the same way as SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
Start Helium Music Manager and open the Database Management screen from the Tools | Database | Management option from the main menu.
When the Database Management window is shown, switch to the “Microsoft SQL Server Databases” tab as shown in the screen below:
Click the New 
button
to create
a new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database to use with Helium Music
Manager.
When you click the New button, the “Create new MSDE/SQL Server Database” window will be opened. This is the window where you will create a new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database as well as establishing a connection to it from Helium Music Manager.
What you will see from top to bottom is:
• Microsoft SQL Server Name – This is the Instance name of your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database. The most common name (selected by default during the installation of SQL Server 2005 Express) is <Computer Name>\SQLEXPRESS. So, if your computer name is Magnus, the Microsoft SQL Server name will most likely be Magnus\SQLEXPRESS.
If you are unsure about the instance name, you can check which name the instance was given by opening “SQL Server Configuration Manager”, which installs with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. For more details about this topic, please read the “Finding the Instance name” below.
• Click the Get Name button to automatically set the name of your computer in the Microsoft SQL Server Name edit box. Please note that this is done by default when the window opens.
• Connection options will allow you to define which authentication mode that you will use to connect to the SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database. Since we selected “Windows Authentication” in the installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, select Windows Authentication in this dialog also. (default option).
• Database Name will set the name of your Helium Music Manager SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database. The name must be unique. To see existing names in the database, click the Refresh button and the drop down list will contain all existing database names.
To setup your Helium Music Manager SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database follow these steps:
1. Make sure that the server name is properly filled with <Computer Name>\Instance Name
2. Make sure that Windows Authentication is selected
3. Enter a unique Database Name in the Database Name input box (we suggest using the name Helium).
4. Click OK.
Helium Music Manager will now create your new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database and connect to it.
Finding the instance name
To find the instance name of your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, follow the steps below:
1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Locate the group Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 2005 | Configuration Tools
3. Start SQL Server Configuration Manager
4. Select SQL Server 2005 Services in the left tree.
5. The Instance name is displayed as in the picture below:
Installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on Windows Vista
This section will guide you through how you should install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on Windows Vista. UAC (User Account Control) is enabled during the installation.
Start the installation by double-clicking the downloaded EXE file. The following screen will be shown to you:
Click Continue to start the installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
The rest of the installation is same as for Installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on Windows XP presented above.
Before you can use your installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition from Helium Music Manager, there is one more step that needs to be performed – adding your current Windows Vista user as an Administrator for the SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. The steps needed to perform this operation are described below.
Creating a Administrator for SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
Follow the steps to make your current Windows Vista user an Administrator for your SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. An Administrator is required to be able to create new Databases.
Open the SQL Server 2005 Surface Area Configuration Tool from: Start | All Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 2005 | Configuration Tools | SQL Server Surface Area Configuration
The following screen will be shown. Click Add New Administrator as shown in the picture below:
Click the >> button to grant all available privileges to the current Windows Vista user. The available privileges will be moved to the right pane, Privileges that will be granted as shown in the picture below. Click OK to apply these privileges.
Your current Windows Vista user can now create new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition databases. Follow the steps in the chapter Configuring Helium Music Manager to work with a SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Database
Note:
If you forget to make your current Windows Vista user a Administrator you
will probably be met by the following error message when you create a
new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition database in Helium Music Manager:
