Connecting to AdventureWorks database (SQL Server 2005 Express) through Visual Studio Professional 2008

Question

I am following the learning ASP.NET 3.5 by O'REILLY to write some ASP.NET 3.5 code using Visual Studio 2008 SP1. I have gotten to the point to where I need to Configure a Data Source using the SqlDataSource control. I chose Microsoft SQL Server (SqlClient) even though I have SQL Server Express 2005 - This seems like the only logical choice.

I get to the Add Connection window and successfully add a Server name and I use the Select or enter a database name of AdventureWorks. When I click on Test Connection I get the Test Connection Succeeded message box.

Unfortunately, when I click OK I get an error message of the following:

Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Sdk.Sfc, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKey Token=89845dcd8080cc91' or one of its dependecies.  The system cannot find
the file specified.

At his point I am at a loss and everywhere I look and find something similar to my issue it involves other versions of either Visual Studio or SQL Server.

I'd really appreciate any help on this!

Answer 1

I had the exact same issue.

Following the suggestions in this thread , I went to the "Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, August 2008 " - and downloaded (and installed) the "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components ". This did not help.

Then I also downloaded and installed the following components: SharedManagementObjects.msi, sqlncli.msi, SQLSysClrTypes.msi.

And now it works for me.

I'm using SQL Server 2008 Express and Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition.

Answer 2

You may need to reinstall your copy of SQL 2005 Express. But sure to install all of the client-side developer packages in the installer.

Answer 3

You may investigate this recipe.