I quicky dit it in a Asp.Net / Vb.Net project: code for the page: <div> <asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server" DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1" DataTextField="name" DataValueField="name"> </asp:DropDownList><asp:SqlDataSource ID="SqlDataSource1" runat="server" ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:NorthwindConnectionString %>" SelectCommand="SELECT [name] FROM [master].[dbo].[sysdatabases] Order By [name]"></asp:SqlDataSource> </div> code for the web config: <connectionStrings> <add name="NorthwindConnectionString" connectionString="Data Source=SERVER2003;Initial Catalog=master;User ID=sa;Password=mysapassword" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" /> </connectionStrings>