Okay well I found the answer to part of my question.
First I had to download the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0 from MS here.
Download details: SQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0
Now I've managed to access the driver using the appropriate JDBC .jar file but I'm still unable to connect. Anyone see anything I'm doing wrong on this attached screenshot? When I attempt to connect I get this error...
"com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: The TCP/IP connection to the host ONE, port 1433 has failed. Error: "Connection refused: connect. Verify the connection properties, check that an instance of SQL Server is running on the host and accepting TCP/IP connections at the port, and that no firewall is blocking TCP connections to the port."."
"GSC_TEST" is my database name
"ONE" is my computer name
"ONE\SQLEXPRESS" is the full host name for the SQL Server
"1433" is the default port and should be correct
I've tried both integrated authentication as well as the Administrator login and password for Windows. However, my SQL Server Studio manager uses Windows Authentication and works fine.
Any ideas? Any help is appreciated.