Can't Connect To Sql Database

i am new to asp.net, and i am kind of lost. i am using visual studio 2008 professional edition with windows xp. now, i am learning asp.net, ado.net and sql server. i installed sql server 2008. everything is ok till now, but, when i tried to create a new database i got an error. i open sql server configuration and checked the local configuration it seems ok. but i don't know where is the wrong. any ideas? how to create a new sql database.

Hi!@web_designerCan you post the error message that you received when you tried to create the database?When you install Microsoft SQL Server, the installer disables the TCP/IP interface and enables only named pipe access to the server. It might be a security precaution, but since you've got authentication, it does not really make much of a difference from a security perspective over an office local area network. Also, you can use the "sa" (probably an acronym of system administrator, but in fact refers to the database administrator) password instead of the Windows Authentication method if you are accessing the server from a remote computer and you do not have an Active Directory domain.If you are logging in with an account that does not have administrative privileges, you might want to check to see if your account has privileges to create new databases.SQL Server 2005 includes a surface area configuration tool which made configuring the database for access much simpler than it is in SQL Server 2008 since it had a wizard driven interface.