SQL Server User Instances

Question

Hi all, i have been having this problem and wondering if u guys could steer me in the right direction. i have created a web app, and i have the .mdf files in the App_Data folder. i have create a web setup project for this. everything installs 100%. But because the server( or machine ) that i install the project on doesnt have user instances because this is disabled by default. how then can i deploy a Database with my installer? bare in mind that this must be a simple installation process, as the end users 9/10 times will not have a DBA, or even knowledge of what a Database is?

Any Ideas?

Thanks in advanced...

Answer 1

EDIT: Appearantly user instances are on by default, but only available in SQL Server Express 2005 and earlier. For it to work, it depends on the connection string, which you control:

Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;
AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\Database1.mdf;
Integrated Security=True;
User Instance=True

You still have to make sure the web server has SQL Server Express installed; if they have SQL Server, you're screwed.

The full details can be found in this MSDN Article.

By the way, you know that user instances is a feature that's being deprecated?