How do I connect to a SQL Server database?

How to connect sql server 2005 by using windows authentication from a client computer to a server?

• I am a beginner of sql. I try to connect from my labtop (XP home) to my office server (server 2003) to access the database in the sql express. I am using Server Management Studio Express in my laptop, and using windows authentication, and connect to another computer (server) and access the server's sql server. (by the way, where to put username and password?) But it always failed and said i have no premission to access... why?

• Answer:

  Windows Authentication in this case implies that you're going to pass on whatever you're logged into Windows with. If when your XP machine starts, you log in as user Fred with password 'lovesql', then that's what it's going to send on to the server through Windows Authentication. If you have a user set up in SQL, you'll need to instead choose "SQL Server Authentication". Then you can type in the user and password directly. But that will need to be a user that's identified directly in the SQL Server, not a domain account. Good luck!