Problems Communicating with the Host

Once you are connected, the most common problem in communicating with a host server is a password problem. Check your password and user ID. Check the upper or lower case requirements. If a password is rejected, you will see an error message that says something like "Server has rejected initialization." See Access-Restricted Databases.

The password and User ID requested by the host will generally not be your personal password and ID. It is usually the User ID and password assigned to your institution (the rare exception to this might be if your institution has a local copy of the database). These institutional User IDs and passwords are usually not shared with individuals within an institution. However, access may be granted to anyone connecting to the database from an IP address within the institution. If you are off-site and cannot access a database that you could access when onsite, use VPN to connect to your institution's network first, then try the connection file again. If you do not have VPN access to your institution's network, check with your network administrator.

Connection files do not use the same ports that a browser uses, so they will usually not go through proxy servers.

If you are still unable to connect to the database, you may be able to access it through a Web browser, then import the references through direct export or by saving a text file and importing the text file. See Importing References Downloaded from Online Databases.