Cannot use the special principal 'sa'

Hello,

I am starting to use SQL Server 2005. I am having trouble connecting remotely. I tried to enable the 'sa' user and got this error:

Cannot use the special principal 'sa'

Is the 'sa' user no longer valid for remote connections?

Thank you

Did you enable "Mixed Mode" authentication? If you use Windows authentication, sa is disabled by default.

Sung

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How did you try to "enable" sa? What statement did you execute to get that error?

Thanks
Laurentiu

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Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I did enable Windows authentication, but when I could not connect remotely I decided to to try and connect using SQL authentication. Can I change the authentication mode?

Thank you

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Yes, you can change the authentication mode: go to Management Studio and open Object Explorer. Connect to your server and right-click on the server name, then select Properties. Go to Security tab and under Server Authentication select SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode.

Thanks
Laurentiu

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Also, after you follow the directions above, you will also need to explicitly enable the sa account as well. In the same place as before, go to Security->Logins. Right-click on the "sa" account, select "Properties". In the list on the left, select "Status" and under "Login" on the right, make sure "Enable" is selected.

[edit] - nevermind, looks like you got it working :)

Sung

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I found the steps to change the authentication.

Now I can login remotely.

Thank you