I cant seem to find where I would change my visual basic 2005 project into a release build. I'm so embarrased.

Don't feel bad... it took me forever to figure that one out as well... VS2005 kinda hides the options be default.  The best way I have found is to use:

Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> Check the "Show advanced build configurations" and click OK.

You should then have a drop down on one of your toolbars in VS that will let you swap between Debug and Release (and any other configurations you have created).

I think you can also right-click on your solution node in the Solution Explorer and select "Configuration Manager..." from the menu.  Then, you can set the active solution configuration.

Wow. Thanks. I kinda feel guilty getting an answer to a hard-to-find question like that for free. Kinda. HA HA

Ah, I always mooch when I can

Here's an interesting twist. I changed my project a release build to test something and now I cant change it back to debug. Any idea why?

Try cleaning your solution.  Right-click on the solution and then click "Clean Solution."  If this doesn't work then make sure everything is checked in and then delete the source from your local mahcine and then download it again from source control.

Thanks. I cleaned my solution and then set the configuration option to Debug. I then built the solution, ran it and re-opened the project properties tab.  It was set back to Active (Release).  And I...don't...use...source...control...

Uh oh ... well, let me go ahead and tell you what you knew was already coming....you need to work through source control!!!!  There are so many benefits to using source control that it is hard to find a starting point.  We highly recommend Team Foundation server, but even Source Safe is dramatically better than nothing at all!!!

OK...so next, is source code on a network or local drive?  The problem you are running into sounds like residual environment settings hanging around.  Source control would help resolve this issue.  Also, you should really never work off of a network drive.  I know that you can adjust the machine trusts and policies to allow this to run, but I HIGHLY recommend not doing this.

The source code is on my local drive.

And yeah i knew i had that coming about source control. I should probably look into SourceSafe. I've never been sure whether its a good product or just a program thrown together they could include as a value-add.