Thanks for the replies, Charlie. I ended up going with MySQL. It has most of the same features as SQL Server Express, but it’s easier to install.

Pete

Pete, how has is gone for you? If the info I shared didn’t help, what more might you offer so we can understand whatever problem remains?

Pete, yes there are indeed common challenges. But they’re not necessarily limited to sql server express, and some have troubled people for over 20 years (and NOT just coldfusion folks).

Now, you say you enabled tcpip. That’s good, but it’s often still not quite enough. What is the specific error message you see? 

In the meantime, I’ll point you to a blog post of mine on the matter. It’s as popular as it’s been over the past two decades. Even if you may have read it or feel the errors listed at the top are not what you see, note that I discuss later there how there are subsequent errors that can arise after solving rhe first problems. More at:

https://www.carehart.org/blog/2006/7/8/sql2k5_Error_establishing_socket