I have been given a back up copy of a particular database (.bak file)and I would like to connect to it via the vb program I am studying. The connection string in the app.config file is pointed to the back up file. Now do i firstly need to restore this database to a local folder or something because I cannot access it when running through the program. It is a SQL database that was being used in a sourcesafe environment. I hope I have been clear with my question, if not I can try to reiterate. Please, does anyone have any suggestions?