When you try to view your Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 Web site, you receive the following error message:

This behavior occurs if one of the following conditions is true:

• The SQL database is not running.
• Internet Information Services (IIS) is configured to run in IIS 5.0 isolation mode.
• The account that is used by application pool does not have the required permissions to the SQL Server database.
• Network connectivity has been lost between the Windows SharePoint Services server and the Microsoft SQL Server server.

To resolve this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Verify that the SQL database is running

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
2. In the list of services, locate the MSSQLSERVER service. This service may also be listed as MSSQL$SHAREPOINT.
3. Note the value of the Status column. If the Status column lists Started, the database server is running. If the Status column is empty, the database server is not running.
   
   To start the database server, right-click the MSSQLSERVER service, and then click Start.

Method 2: Verify that IIS is not running in IIS 5.0 isolation mode

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. In the left pane, right-click your server name, and then expand the local computer.
3. Right click Web Sites, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Service tab.
5. Click to clear the Run WWW service in IIS 5.0 isolation mode check box.
6. Click OK
7. To start the WWW service, click Yes.

Method 3: Make sure that the account that is used by the application pool is the account that has the required permissions to the SQL Server database

First, you must first determine the application pool identity. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Double-click the Web Sites folder.
3. Right-click the virtual server that is running Windows SharePoint Services 2.0, and then click Properties.
4. Click Home Directory.
5. Note the information that is in the Application name box (this is the application pool name), and then click Cancel.
6. In the left pane, right-click Application Pools, and then click Properties.
7. Click the Identity tab.
8. Note the information that is in the Application pool identitypane, and then click Cancel.

Next, you must verify that this account has the required permission the SQL Server database. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server, and then click Enterprise Manager.
2. In the left pane, double-click Microsoft SQL Servers, and then double-click your SQL server group.
3. Double-click your server.
4. Double-click Security.
5. In the left pane, click Logins.
6. In the right pane, double-click the user who you noted step 8 of the previous procedure.
7. In the SQL Server Login Properties dialog box, click Server Roles.
8. Click to select both the Security Administrators and the Database Creators check boxes, and then click Database Access.
9. Under the Permit column, click to select the Windows SharePoint Services database.
10. Click OK.

Method 4: Make sure that you have network connectivity and correct name resolution between the servers

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Verify that the Windows SharePoint Services server is using the correct IP address for the SQL server. To do this, run the ping command on the Windows SharePoint Services server.
2. Verify that the Windows SharePoint Services server is obtaining the correct IP address for the SQL server from DNS. To do this, run the nslookup command from the Windows SharePoint Services server.
3. Make sure that there are no incorrect entries for the SQL server. To do this, examine the Hosts file on the Windows SharePoint Services server. This file is in the following location:
   %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\Hosts
4. On the Windows SharePoint Services server, look for SQL client aliases. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, and then type cliconfg in the Open box.
   2. Click the Alias tab.
   By default, there are no SQL client aliases. If you have any aliases for the SQL server, verify that they are correct, or remove them.