Connecting to an MS SQL Express database

Hi Experts,

I am using the following code trying to connect to an MS SQL Express 2008 database. I can connect and query the database from within the SQL Server Management Studio so I think it is set up correctly. I have not set a password for the database so the credentials I am using are the windows admin credentials for the account that was used to set up the database.

The error I get when trying to connect is: Login failed for user 'admin'.

I have tried both the connection strings in the code with the same results.

Imports System.Data.Sql
Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Public Class SQLControl

    Public SQLCon As New SqlConnection With {.ConnectionString = "Server=ACERES1\SQLEXPRESS;Database=TestDb;User=admin;Pwd=Admin-123;"}
    'Public SQLCon As New SqlConnection With {.ConnectionString = "Server=ACERES1\SQLEXPRESS;Database=TestDb;User Id=admin;Password=Admin-123;"}
    Public SQLCmd As SqlCommand

    Public Function HasConnection() As Boolean

        Try

            SQLCon.Open()
            SQLCon.Close()
            Return True

        Catch ex As Exception

            MsgBox(ex.Message)
            Return False

        End Try

    End Function

End Class