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JAG's questions

Martin Hope
JAG
Asked: 2009-07-04 03:07:51 +0800 CST
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I'm trying to log in to a SQL Server 2005 Express instance using the following command:

osql -S .\INSTANCE -U sa -P password

I get the error: Login failed for user 'sa'.

I can connect just fine using the -E switch. I must add that it's been working for months. I think someone changed something but I cannot figure out what is it.

This is what I tried:

  • Login using Windows authentication and changing the sa password:

    sp_password NULL, newpassword, 'sa'

  • Enabling 'sa' login:

    ALTER LOGIN sa ENABLE ; GO ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = 'newpassword' ; GO

  • Checked the Windows Registry to ensure that mixed authentication is enabled. The value was correct: LoginMode=2

What else should I check? Thanks in advance.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

This is a Windows 2003 Server. They have some password policies enabled, I remember that I needed to change the default 'sa' password my application uses when it installs SQL Server to another one more complex.

I'm connecting using VNC, so I can't really use SSMS

My application can connect using another SQL Server login, but no 'sa'

Finally, if we don't find a solution I will remove this instance and install it again, but I'd really like to find out what's the problem. Just in case it happens again and just for plain curiosity.

sql-server