Site-specific config items

[Harlan Messinger]

I've got an ASP.NET 3.5 website on a shared-hosting server, and of
course my own development copy. Data is in a SQL Server database. I've
looked at some of the strategies available to configure the connections
string appropriately for each site without accidentally overwriting one
with the other. One of them, to define the data connection string in
machine.config, is unavailable to me on the production website, but I
was thinking about doing it this way: Suppose my site is as follows

Root
--App1
--App2

I have two ASP.NET applications, and I don't have anything directly in
Root. So I can define my connection string in Root/web.config and have
them accessible to the two apps, right?

But:

1. If I don't configure the Root itself as an ASP.NET application, then
will the two apps ignore its web.config?

2. If I do configure the Root itself as an ASP.NET application, does
that then mean if a user is running both apps in the same browser, they
will be treated as running in the same ASP.NET Session? I don't want
that--they need to operate as isolated applications with their own
session spaces.

Am I mistaken about any of my conceptions? If I'm correct, is there an
alternative that accomplishes what I'm trying to accomplish?