Java problem(s)

I'm in my last chapter of Java up at Francis Tuttle. For this chapter, I was taught how to make a stock-checking program with a password interface, database manipulation via JDBC-ODBC and all that jazz. The book provides all the code and I basically copy it down while reading about how that particular chunk of code works. Weird thing is, I'm getting a weird 'no connection' issue whenver I try to run the program. Its not seeing the database, which is in the same place the program and all its components are in. I asked my teacher for help, and he copypasta'd the de-facto files and whatnot to my folder. It worked for that day and I got started on the next project. Next day I try to run the original program and I get picture related.

I've got to make 6 different programs using this program as a base, but I can't do jack until I figure out why
the program isn't working right. My google-fu is weak, so I come to SP for help.

 Information

Picture of the issue in question

Code:

/*
    Chapter 11: The MakeDB Class
    Programmer:    Myles Brown
    Date:        November 30, 2012
    Filename:    MakeDB.java
    Purpose:    To build an initial database for the StockTracker application
*/

import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
H:> java -classpath H:\Java I\Chapter 11\Programs\JBDC\StockTracker.mdb;
  public class MakeDB
  {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
    {
        Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");

        String url = "jdbc:odbc:StockTracker";

        Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url);
        Statement stmt = con.createStatement();

        // The following code deletes each index and table, if they exist.
        // If they do not exist, a message is displayed and execution continues.
        System.out.println("Dropping indexes & tables ...");

        try
        {
            stmt.executeUpdate("DROP INDEX PK_UserStocks ON UserStocks");

        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Could not drop primary key on UserStocks table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        try
        {
              stmt.executeUpdate("DROP TABLE UserStocks");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Could not drop UserStocks table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        try
        {
              stmt.executeUpdate("DROP TABLE Users");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Could not drop Users table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        try
        {
              stmt.executeUpdate("DROP TABLE Stocks");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Could not drop Stocks table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        ///////// Create the database tables /////////////
        System.out.println("\nCreating tables ............");

        // Create Stocks table with primary key index
        try
        {
            System.out.println("Creating Stocks table with primary key index...");
            stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE Stocks ("
                              +"symbol TEXT(8) NOT NULL "
                              +"CONSTRAINT PK_Stocks PRIMARY KEY, "
                              +"name TEXT(50)"
                              +")");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Exception creating Stocks table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        // Create Users table with primary key index
        try
        {
            System.out.println("Creating Users table with primary key index...");
            stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE Users ("
                              +"userID TEXT(20) NOT NULL "
                              +"CONSTRAINT PK_Users PRIMARY KEY, "
                              +"lastName TEXT(30) NOT NULL, "
                              +"firstName TEXT(30) NOT NULL, "
                              +"pswd LONGBINARY, "
                              +"admin BIT"
                              +")");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Exception creating Users table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        // Create UserStocks table with foreign keys to Users and Stocks tables
        try
        {
            System.out.println("Creating UserStocks table ...");
            stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE UserStocks ("
                              +"userID TEXT(20) "
                               +"CONSTRAINT FK1_UserStocks REFERENCES Users (userID), "
                               +"symbol TEXT(8), "
                               +"CONSTRAINT FK2_UserStocks FOREIGN KEY (symbol) "
                               +"REFERENCES Stocks (symbol))");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Exception creating UserStocks table: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        // Create UserStocks table primary key index
        try
        {
            System.out.println("Creating UserStocks table primary key index...");
            stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE UNIQUE INDEX PK_UserStocks "
                              +"ON UserStocks (userID, symbol) "
                              +"WITH PRIMARY DISALLOW NULL");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Exception creating UserStocks index: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }


        // Create one administrative user with password as initial data
        String userID = "admin01";
        String firstName = "Default";
        String lastName = "Admin";
        String initialPswd = "admin01";
        Password pswd = new Password(initialPswd);
        boolean admin = true;

        PreparedStatement pStmt =
                   con.prepareStatement("INSERT INTO Users VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)");
        try
        {
            pStmt.setString(1, userID);
            pStmt.setString(2, lastName);
            pStmt.setString(3, firstName);
            pStmt.setBytes(4, serializeObj(pswd));
            pStmt.setBoolean(5, admin);
            pStmt.executeUpdate();
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println("Exception inserting user: "
                              + e.getMessage());
        }

        pStmt.close();

        // Read and display all User data in the database.
        ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Users");

        System.out.println("Database created.\n");
        System.out.println("Displaying data from database...\n");
        System.out.println("Users table contains:");

        Password pswdFromDB;
        byte[] buf = null;

        while(rs.next())
        {
            System.out.println("Logon ID         = "
                              + rs.getString("userID"));
            System.out.println("First name       = "
                              + rs.getString("firstName"));
            System.out.println("Last name        = "+rs.getString("lastName"));
            System.out.println("Administrative   = "+rs.getBoolean("admin"));
            System.out.println("Initial password = "+initialPswd);

        // Do NOT use with JDK 1.2.2 using JDBC-ODBC bridge as
        // SQL NULL data value is not handled correctly.
            buf = rs.getBytes("pswd");
            if (buf != null)
            {
                System.out.println("Password Object  = "
                                  + (pswdFromDB=(Password)deserializeObj(buf)));
                System.out.println("  AutoExpires    = "+ pswdFromDB.getAutoExpires());
                System.out.println("  Expiring now   = "+ pswdFromDB.isExpiring());
                System.out.println("  Remaining uses = "
                                  + pswdFromDB.getRemainingUses()+"\n");
            }
            else
                System.out.println("Password Object  = NULL!");
        }

        rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Stocks");
        if(!rs.next())
            System.out.println("Stocks table contains no records.");
        else
            System.out.println("Stocks table still contains records!");

        rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM UserStocks");
        if(!rs.next())
            System.out.println("UserStocks table contains no records.");
        else
            System.out.println("UserStocks table still contains records!");

        stmt.close(); // closing Statement also closes ResultSet

    } // end of main()

    // Method to write object to byte array and then insert into prepared statement
    public static byte[] serializeObj(Object obj)
                              throws IOException
    {
        ByteArrayOutputStream baOStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        ObjectOutputStream objOStream = new ObjectOutputStream(baOStream);

        objOStream.writeObject(obj); // object must be Serializable
        objOStream.flush();
        objOStream.close();
        return baOStream.toByteArray(); // returns stream as byte array
    }

    // Method to read bytes from result set into a byte array and then
    // create an input stream and read the data into an object
    public static Object deserializeObj(byte[] buf)
                            throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException
    {
        Object obj = null;

        if (buf != null)
        {
          ObjectInputStream objIStream =
            new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(buf));

          obj = objIStream.readObject(); // throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException
        }
        return obj;
    }
  } // end of class

What I think is mucking it up part 1

Code:

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
import static javax.swing.JOptionPane.*;            // updated for v5.0
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import static java.awt.BorderLayout.*;                // updated for v5.0
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.sql.*;

public class STLogon extends JFrame implements ActionListener, Activator
{
    StockTrackerDB db;
    User user = null;
    String userID;
    String password;

    JTextField userIDField;
    JPasswordField passwordField;
    JButton jbtLogon;

    public STLogon()
    {
        super("Stock Tracker"); // call super (JFrame) constructor

        int width = 300;
        int height = 100;

        try{
            db = new StockTrackerDB();
        }
        catch(ClassNotFoundException ex){
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "Class not found exception creating database object",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
                   System.exit(0);
        }
        catch(SQLException ex){
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "SQL exception creating database object",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
                   System.exit(0);
        }

        // define GUI components
        JLabel label1 = new JLabel("User ID: ");
        userIDField = new JTextField(20);

        JLabel label2 = new JLabel("Password:   ");
        passwordField = new JPasswordField(20);
        passwordField.setEchoChar('*');

        jbtLogon = new JButton("Log on");

        // set up GUI
        JPanel userPanel= new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        userPanel.add(label1,CENTER);
        userPanel.add(userIDField,EAST);

        JPanel pswdPanel= new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        pswdPanel.add(label2,CENTER);
        pswdPanel.add(passwordField,EAST);

        JPanel buttonPanel= new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
        buttonPanel.add(jbtLogon);

        JPanel contentPanel= new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        contentPanel.add(userPanel, NORTH);
        contentPanel.add(pswdPanel, CENTER);
        contentPanel.add(buttonPanel, SOUTH);
        contentPanel.setBorder(new TitledBorder("Log on"));

        setContentPane(contentPanel);

        // add listeners
        jbtLogon.addActionListener(this);

        addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
            public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
                        {
                            try {db.close();
                            }
                            catch(Exception ex)
                            {}
                            System.exit(0);
                        }
            });

        // Enable Enter key for each JButton
        InputMap map;
        map = jbtLogon.getInputMap();
        if (map != null){
            map.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER,0,false), "pressed");
            map.put(KeyStroke.getKeyStroke(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER,0,true), "released");
        }

        pack();
        if( width < getWidth())                // prevent setting width too small
           width = getWidth();
        if(height < getHeight())            // prevent setting height too small
            height = getHeight();
        centerOnScreen(width, height);
    }

      public void centerOnScreen(int width, int height)
      {
        int top, left, x, y;

        // Get the screen dimension
        Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();

        // Determine the location for the top left corner of the frame
        x = (screenSize.width - width)/2;
        y = (screenSize.height - height)/2;
        left = (x < 0) ? 0 : x;
        top = (y < 0) ? 0 : y;

        // Set the frame to the specified location & size
      this.setBounds(left, top, width, height);
      }

    private boolean validUser(String userID,String password)
                throws PasswordException,SQLException,IOException,ClassNotFoundException
    {
        boolean userOK = false;
        user = db.getUser(userID); // get user object from DB for this ID
        if(user != null)
        {
            user.validate(password); // throws PasswordException
            userOK = true;
            if(user.pswdAutoExpires())    // if tracking uses
                db.updUser(user);        // update DB for this use
        }

        return userOK;
    }

    private void doStockActivity()throws PasswordException,SQLException,
                                         IOException,ClassNotFoundException
    {
        StockTracker f = new StockTracker(user,this,db);
        f.pack();
        this.setVisible(false);
        f.setVisible(true);
    }

    public void activate()
    {
        this.setVisible(true);
        userIDField.setText("");
        userIDField.requestFocus();
        user = null;
    }

    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e)
    {
        try
        {
            userID = userIDField.getText();
            if(userID.equals(""))
            {
                   JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                    "Please enter a valid user ID.",
                    "Missing User ID.",
                    ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
                userIDField.requestFocus();
            }
            else
            {
                password = new String(passwordField.getPassword());
                if(password.equals(""))
                {
                       JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                        "Please enter a valid password.",
                        "Missing Password.",
                        ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
                    passwordField.requestFocus();
                }
                else
                {
                    try
                    {
                        // See if userID exists and validate password
                        if(validUser(userID,password))
                        {
                            if(user.pswdIsExpiring())
                                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                                                user.getUserID()+" logon successful; "
                                           +user.getPswdUses()+" use(s) remaining.");
                            if(e.getSource() == jbtLogon)
                                      doStockActivity();
                        }
                        else
                            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this, "Invalid user.");
                    }
                    catch (PasswordExpiredException ex)
                    {
                        JPasswordField pf1 = new JPasswordField();
                        JPasswordField pf2 = new JPasswordField();
                        Object[] message1 = new Object[]
                                {"Password has expired. Please enter a new password.", pf1};
                        Object[] options = new String[] {"OK", "Cancel"};
                        JOptionPane op1 = new JOptionPane(message1,
                                              WARNING_MESSAGE,                // updated for v5.0
                                              OK_CANCEL_OPTION, null, options);    // updated for v5.0
                        JDialog dialog1 = op1.createDialog(null, "Change Password");
                        dialog1.setVisible(true);    // updated for v5.0

                        if(op1.getValue() != null && options[0].equals(op1.getValue()))
                        {
                            String pswd1 = new String(pf1.getPassword());
                            if(pswd1 != null)
                            {
                                Object[] message2 = new Object[]
                                                {"Please verify new password.", pf2};
                                JOptionPane op2 = new JOptionPane(message2,
                                                      WARNING_MESSAGE,  // updated for v5.0
                                                      OK_CANCEL_OPTION,    // updated for v5.0
                                                            null, options);
                                JDialog dialog2 = op2.createDialog(null, "Verify Password");
                                dialog2.setVisible(true);    // updated for v5.0
                                if(op2.getValue() != null && options[0].equals(op2.getValue()))
                                {
                                    String pswd2 = new String(pf2.getPassword());
                                    if(pswd2 != null)
                                    {
                                        if(pswd1.equals(pswd2))
                                        {
                                            user.changePassword(password, pswd1);
                                            db.updUser(user);
                                            doStockActivity();
                                        }
                                        else
                                            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                                            "Both passwords are not identical.",
                                            "Password not changed",
                                            ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            userIDField.setText("");
            passwordField.setText("");
            userIDField.requestFocus();
        }// end of try
        catch (PasswordUsedException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "Password Previously Used. Try again.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (PasswordSizeException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "Invalid password size. Try again.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (PasswordInvalidFormatException ex)
        {
            if(ex.getCount() > 2) // allows only 3 tries, then exits program
                System.exit(0);
            else
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,ex.getMessage()+", count:"+ex.getCount(),
                                                   "Invalid password format. Try again.",
                                                   ERROR_MESSAGE);    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (PasswordInvalidException ex)
        {
            if(ex.getCount() > 2) // allows only 3 tries, then exits program
                System.exit(0);
            else
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,ex.getMessage()+", count:"+ex.getCount(),
                                                   "Invalid password. Try again.",
                                                   ERROR_MESSAGE);    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (PasswordException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "PasswordException.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }

        catch (IOException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "IOException.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (SQLException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "SQLException.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }
        catch (ClassNotFoundException ex)
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                ex.getMessage(),
                "ClassNotFoundException.",
                ERROR_MESSAGE);                    // updated for v5.0
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] argv)
    {
        final STLogon f = new STLogon();
        f.setVisible(true);
    }
}

What I think is mucking it up part 2

 Bonus issues - Edit 1

I dunno how to phrase it, but I wanna get better at programming. Like a lot better. Like 'look at any language and able to do pomegranate' better. I like coding and computing and all that shiz, but being terrible at it is getting to me. Plus, college'll be rough if I don't get some practice in when I'm out doing fu'ck-all this summer. I just don't know where to look. I'll add on to this once I get more time.

EDIT 1: The plan now is to go back and basically do what Polantaris said and go back and mess around with my old projects. Then branch out from there, possibly making a simple 'indie platformer #204556546'. When I go to college, I plan to go for Software Engineering instead of Comp Sci since I hate math. Question is: No idea where a college with a good course is in the OKC OSU is my best bet for now. Hoo-ray.