Error connecting to the sqlserver express edition from visual web developer 2005

hello eveyone..

i have just downloaded and installed the visaul web developer 2005 express edition and sqlserver 2005 express edition.On top of that i even downloaded and installed the northwind database.But my problem is when i am connecting to the northwind database by clicking toos menu>connect to the database>choose datasource>new connection>..i have provided it with the required information..but as soon as i press "Test Connection" button the following error box displays..

"an error has occured while establishing a connection to the server.when connecting to the
sql server2005,this failure may be caused by the fact that under default settings sql server
doestnot allow remote connections.(provider:Named piped providers,error:40-couldnot open a
connection to sqlserver.)"

i have no idea whats is all about..can anyone get me pass this error..

yea that error is pretty bogus in that it will show that for all kinds of problems even if they have nothing to do with remote connections...and im not trying to be insulting but did you for sure actually start the server itself or did you just try and do everything through the visual studio? I have set up a connection before through visual studio and had no problems...can you provide some more info? -- jp

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Hi

From your description, it seems that you met error when you are trying to connect to your SQLExpress,right?

This is a generally error message. To diagnose the issue, you may following the steps below.

First, you also should make sure that if 1433 port has been enabled on your server, which is the default port for SQLServer remote connections.

Generally, you can try the following ways to handle your problem.

1. Enable remote connections for SQL Server 2005 Express or SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
2. Enable the SQL Server Browser service
3. Create exceptions in Windows Firewall
4. Create an exception for SQL Server 2005 in Windows Firewall

More details for each step, you may see the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;914277 (Also suitable for SQLExpress)

Thanks.