How to Verify If the SA Password is Blank

1. On the computer that is hosting the instance of MSDE to which you are connecting, open a command prompt window.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   
   osql -U sa
   
   This connects you to the local, default instance of MSDE by using the sa account. To connect to a named instance installed on your computer type:
   
   osql -U sa -S servername\instancename
   
   You are now at the following prompt:
   
   Password:
3. Press ENTER again. This will pass a NULL (blank) password for sa.
   
   If you are now at the following prompt, after you press ENTER, then you do not have a password for the sa account:
   
   1>
   
   Microsoft recommends that you create a non-NULL, strong password to conform with security practices.
   
   However, if you receive the following error message, you have entered an incorrect password. This error message indicates that a password has been created for the sa account:
   
   "Login Failed for user 'sa'."
   The following error message indicates that the computer that is running SQL Server is set to Windows Authentication only:
   
   Login failed for user 'sa'. Reason: Not associated with a trusted SQL Server connection.
   You cannot verify your sa password while in Windows Authentication mode. However, you can create a sa password so that your sa account is secure in case your authentication mode is changed to Mixed Mode in the future.
   
   If you receive the following error message, SQL Server may not be running or you may have provided an incorrect name for the named instance of SQL Server that is installed:
   
   [Shared Memory]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.
   [Shared Memory]ConnectionOpen (Connect()).

How to Change Your SA Password

1. On the computer that is hosting the instance of MSDE to which you are connecting, open the command prompt window.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   
   osql -U sa
   
   At the Password: prompt, press ENTER if your password is blank or type the current password. This connects you to the local, default instance of MSDE by using the sa account. To connect by using Windows authentication, type this command: use osql -E
   
   
3. Type the following commands, on separate lines, and then press ENTER:
   

      sp_password @old = null, @new = 'complexpwd',  @loginame ='sa' 
      go
   						

   
   NOTE: Make sure that you replace "complexpwd" with the new strong password. A strong password includes alpha-numeric and special characters, and a combination of upper and lower case characters.
   
   You will receive the following informational message, which indicates that your password was changed successfully:
   
   Password changed.

How to Determine or Change Your Authentication Mode

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

• The location of the LoginMode subkey depends on whether you installed MSDE as the default MSDE instance or as a named instance. If you installed MSDE as the default instance, the LoginMode subkey is located in the following registry subkey:

  HKLM\Software\Microsoft\MSSqlserver\MSSqlServer\LoginMode

• If you installed MSDE as a named instance, the LoginMode subkey is located in the following registry subkey:

  HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\%InstanceName%\MSSQLServer\LoginMode

274773 FIX: If You Change Windows Security to Windows/SQL Security the SA Password is Blank

1. To stop MSSQLSERVER and all other related services (such as SQLSERVERAgent), open the Services applet in Control Panel.
2. Open the Registry Editor. To open the Registry Editor, click Start, click Run, and then type: "regedt32" (without the quotation marks)
   
   Click OK.
   
   
3. Locate either of the following subkeys (depending on whether you installed MSDE as the default MSDE instance or as a named instance:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSSqlserver\MSSqlServer
   
   -or-
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\<Instance Name>\MSSQLServer\

4. In the right-pane, double-click the LoginMode subkey.
5. In the DWORD Editor dialog box, set the value of this subkey to 1. Make sure that the Hex option is selected, and then click OK.
6. Restart the MSSQLSERVER and the SQLSERVERAgent services for this change to take effect.

Security Best Practices for a SQL Server Installation

• Secure your sa login account with a non-NULL password. There are worms that only work if you have no security for your sa login account. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  313418 PRB: Unsecured SQL Server with Blank (NULL) SA Password Leaves Vulnerability to a Worm

  Therefore, to make sure that the built-in sa account has a strong password, you must follow the recommendation provided in the "System Administrator (SA) Login" topic in SQL Server Books Online, even if you never directly use the sa account.
• Block port 1433 at your Internet gateways, and then assign SQL Server to listen on an alternate port.
• If port 1433 must be available on your Internet gateways, enable egress and ingress filtering to prevent misuse of the port.
• Run the SQLServer service and SQL Server Agent under a Microsoft Windows NT account, not a Local System account.
• Enable Microsoft Windows NT Authentication, and then enable auditing for successful and failed logins. Then, stop and restart the MSSQLServer service. Configure your clients to use Windows NT Authentication.