Error With JDBC Driver

hi, i am using sqljdbc.jar in a java applet and i am using Netbeans for development. i am able to connect with the SQL Server from the IDE. however, when i try to debug the SQL part of the code, i am getting an exception at :


DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver());
Class.forName("com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver");
String connectionUrl="jdbcqlserver://localhost:49182;databaseName=NanoBase;";
Connection con = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(connectionUrl, "test", "Walt787sop289");

where it says that it cannot find the class. i am also putting down the exception information.

java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeApplication(Launcher.java:1273)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeMainClass(Launcher.java:1219)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.doLaunchApp(Launcher.java:1066)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Launcher.java:105)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/SQLServerDriver
at VncViewer.performSql(VncViewer.java:115)
at VncViewer.readParameters(VncViewer.java:743)
at VncViewer.init(VncViewer.java:152)
at VncViewer.main(VncViewer.java:53)
... 9 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:200)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:188)
at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.findClass(JNLPClassLoader.java:256)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:306)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:251)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClassInternal(ClassLoader.java:319)

i am currently using java web start to debug the application. earlier, the application was running smoothly during debug (when not being run through java web start), but was failing to run when started externally say within a html file as an applet. however, when i used java web start, the exception is being pointed to the line in bold. i have added sqljdbc.jar to the list of libraries and have added it under the compile as well as the run time configuration. i would appreciate if this exception could be resolved. if i have to configure anything in the classpath, pls suggest how i can configure it under netbeans.

regards,
anant