title: (Maybe) Illegal character in ODBC SQL Server Connection String PWD=
body: <p>According to what I have researched there are no illegal characters in the PWD= field of a SQL Server Connection String.</p>
  
  <p>However, using SQL Server Express 2008 I changed the SA password to a GUID, specifically:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>{85C86BD7-B15F-4C51-ADDA-3B6A50D89386}</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So when connecting via ODBC I use this connection string:</p>
  
  <pre><code>"Driver={SQL Server};Server=.\\MyInstance;Database=Master;UID=SA;PWD={85C86BD7-B15F-4C51-ADDA-3B6A50D89386};"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But it comes back as Login failed for SA.  </p>
  
  <p>However, if I change the SA password to something just as long but without <strong>{}-</strong> it succeeds! Are there certain characters in PWD= that need to be escaped?  I tried all different combinations with no luck.</p>