Format Of The Initialization String Does Not Conform To Specification Starting At Index 0.]

I received this error my server:

[ArgumentException: Format of the initialization string does not conform to specification starting at index 0.]
   System.Data.Common.DbConnectionOptions.GetKeyValuePair(String connectionString, Int32 currentPosition, StringBuilder buffer, Boolean useOdbcRules, String& keyname, String& keyvalue) +1242
   System.Data.Common.DbConnectionOptions.ParseInternal(Hashtable parsetable, String connectionString, Boolean buildChain, Hashtable synonyms, Boolean firstKey) +128
   System.Data.Common.DbConnectionOptions..ctor(String connectionString, Hashtable synonyms, Boolean useOdbcRules) +102
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionString..ctor(String connectionString) +52
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnectionOptions(String connectionString, DbConnectionOptions previous) +24
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnectionPoolGroup(String connectionString, DbConnectionPoolGroupOptions poolOptions, DbConnectionOptions& userConnectionOptions) +125
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.ConnectionString_Set(String value) +56
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.set_ConnectionString(String value) +4
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection..ctor(String connectionString) +21
   admin_ratings.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) +1345
   System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +99
   System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +47
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +1061


Here's my code, and this worked fine with the 3rd connection string on my local machine. It did the update to the proper fields in my db:

 Dim Original_WebsiteID As Integer = tblwebsiteRow.WebSiteID Dim conRatings As SqlConnection

Dim strUpdate As StringDim cmdUpdate As SqlCommand conRatings = New SqlConnection(ConnectionString = "Connect Timeout=8; Integrated Security=True;Database=linkexchanger; Server=************;uid=****; pwd=********; ")

'conRatings = New SqlConnection(ConnectionString = "Connect Timeout=8; Initial Catalog=linkexchanger; Data Source=******; uid=*****; pwd=*****;")

'conRatings = New SqlConnection("Server=SCOTSQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=linkexchanger;Integrated Security=True;Connect Timeout=8;")

strUpdate = "UPDATE tblWebSite SET Rating = " & Rate & "WHERE (WebSiteID = " & Original_WebsiteID & ")"cmdUpdate = New SqlCommand(strUpdate, conRatings)

conRatings.Open()

cmdUpdate.ExecuteNonQuery()

conRatings.Close()

Next

End Sub