How to connect to local instance of SQL Server 2008 Express

Question

I just installed SQL Server 2008 Express on my Vista SP1 machine  I previously had 2005 on here and used it just fine with the old SQL Server Management Studio Express  I was able to connect with no problems to my PC-NAME SQLEXPRESS instance  no  PC-NAME is not my computer name  -    I uninstalled 2005 and SQL Server Management Studio Express  I then installed SQL Server 2008 Express on my machine and elected to have it install SQL Server Management Studio Basic   Now  when I try to connect to PC-NAME SQLEXPRESS  with Windows Authentication  like I always did   I get the following message   Cannot connect to PC-NAME SQLEXPRESS  A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server  The server was not found or was not accessible  Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections   provider  SQL Network Interfaces  error  26 - Error Locating Server Instance Specified   Microsoft SQL Server  Error  -1  For help  click  http   go microsoft com fwlink ProdName Microsoft SQL Server amp EvtSrc MSSQLServer amp EvtID -1 amp LinkId 20476  When I installed SQL Server 2008  I had it use SQLEXPRESS as the local instance name  As far as I can tell  through SQL Server Configuration Manager  SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections   When I went to the help link it mentions  the help page suggests the following    Make sure that the SQL Server Browser service is started on the server  Use the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration tool to enable SQL Server to accept remote connections  For more information about the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration Tool  see Surface Area Configuration for Services and Connections    Well  as far as I can tell  there is no SQL Server Browser service on my system  looked in MMC for one  couldn t find one    And the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration tool doesn t exist in SQL Server 2008  So good job there with your help documentation  Microsoft  -    I m at a loss for what to do right now  I had a lot of work I was hoping to get done today after upgrading to 2008  the person I m working with got it up and running with no problem and told me it would be easy - he s also far better with database stuff that I am   Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong  I d really appreciate it  If I can t get this working in a few hours  I m going back to SQL Server 2005  if that will even work  gah       Edit  I have tried turning Windows Firewall off  and that did not help  Also  I noticed that I do not have a  Data  directory under my SQL Server 2008 install directory tree - could I have possibly set something up wrong when I installed it

User · Accepted Answer

Haha  oh boy  I figured it out  Somehow  someway  I did not install the Database Engine when I installed SQL Server 2008  I have no idea how I missed that  but that s what happened

User · Answer

var connectionstring    server localhost  database dbname  integrated security yes    or  var connectionstring    server localhost  database dbname  login yourlogin  pwd yourpass

User · Answer

Start your Local SQL Server Service   Start SQL Config Manager   Click Start -  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 -  SQL Server Configuration Manager Start SQL Services   Set the SQL Server  SQLEXPRESS  and SQL Server Browser services to automatic start mode  Right-click each service -  Properties -  Go into the Service Tab   This will ensure they start up again if you restart your computer   Please check to ensure the state is  Running  for both services     Login and authenticate with your Local SQL Server   Now open up SQL Server Management Studio and click  Connect to Object Explorer  and select Server Name      Your PC name  SQLEXPRESS  Example   8540P-KL SQLEXPRESS or  localhost  SQLEXPRESS   To find your PC name   Right click My Computer -  Properties -  Computer Name tab Alternative   Login using windows authentication   Using the user name  Your Domain   Your User Name      Setup User Account   Create a new Login acct   In SQL Mgmt Studio -  Expand your local Server -  Security -  Right click on Logins -  New Login Set Password settings on New User Account   Uncheck Enforce password policy  password expiration and user must change pw Since this is local  Default database -  Your Database Grant roles to New User Account   User Mapping Page -  Map to your db and grant db owner role Status Page -  Grant Permission to connect and Enable Login     Setup Access Permissions Settings for User   Enable all auth modes  Right click your Local Server -  Properties -  Security Tab -  Enable SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode Enable TCP IP   Open SQL Server Configuration Manager -  SQL Server Network Configuration -  Protocols for SQLEXPRESS -  Enable TCP IP Restart SQL Server Service   You will have to restart the SQL Server SQLEXPRESS  after enabling TCP IP     Database Properties File for Spring Project   database url jdbc jtds sqlserver    local PC Computer name  instance SQLEXPRESS DatabaseName  db name   database username  Your user name  database password  Your password  database driverClassName net sourceforge jtds jdbc Driver   If you want to view larger screen shots and better formatting of the answer with more details please view the blog article below  Setting up a Local Instance of SQL Server 2008 Blog Post

User · Answer

For me  I was only able to get it to work by using     in the server name field  was banging away for awhile trying different combos of the user name and server name  Note that during install of the server  ie this file  SQLEXPR x64 ENU exe  i checked default instance which defaults the name to MSSQLSERVER  the above high voted answers might be best used for separate named  ie when you need more than 1  server instances   both of these videos helped me out    use dot for server name  https   www youtube com watch v DLrxFXXeLFk general setup  https   www youtube com watch v vng0P8Gfx2g

User · Answer

Please check the ServerName which you provided  It should match with the below shown Name in the UserName textbox  and that name should followed with  SQLEXPRESS

User · Answer

Under Configuration Manager and Network Configuration and Protocols for your instance is TCP IP Enabled  That could be the problem

User · Answer

I know this question is old  but in case it helps anyone make sure the SQL Server Browser is running in the Services MSC  I installed SQL Server Express 2008 R2 and the SQL Server Browser Service was set to Disabled    Start- Run- Services msc  Find  SQL Server Browser - Right Click- Properties Set Startup Type to Automatic- Click Apply  Retry your connection

User · Answer

I ve just solved a problem related to this which may help other people   Initially when loading up MSSMSE it had the server as PC NAME SQLEXPRESS and when I tried to connect it gave me Error  26 - Error Locating Server Instance Specified  so I went into SQL Server Configuration Manager to check if my SQL Server Browser and SQL Server services were running and set to automatic  only to find that instead of saying SQL Server  SQLEXPRESS  it says SQL Server MSSQLSERVER    I then tried connecting to PC-NAME MSSQLSERVER and this time got SQL Network Interfaces  error  25 - Connection string is not valid   MicrosoftSQL Server  Error  87  The parameter is incorrect so I googled this error and found that somebody had suggested that instead of using PC-NAME MSSQLSERVER just use PC-NAME as the Server Name at the server connection interface  and this seems to work   There s a link here http   learningsqlserver wordpress com 2011 01 21 what-version-of-sql-server-do-i-have  which explains that MSSQLSERVER is the default instance and can be connected to by using just your hostname   I think this may have arisen because I ve had SQL Server 2008 installed at some point in the past

User · Answer

For me  I was only able to get it to work by using     in the server name field  was banging away for awhile trying different combos of the user name and server name  Note that during install of the server  ie this file  SQLEXPR x64 ENU exe  i checked default instance which defaults the name to MSSQLSERVER  the above high voted answers might be best used for separate named  ie when you need more than 1  server instances   both of these videos helped me out    use dot for server name  https   www youtube com watch v DLrxFXXeLFk general setup  https   www youtube com watch v vng0P8Gfx2g

User · Answer

var connectionstring    server localhost  database dbname  integrated security yes    or  var connectionstring    server localhost  database dbname  login yourlogin  pwd yourpass

User · Answer

Under Configuration Manager and Network Configuration and Protocols for your instance is TCP IP Enabled  That could be the problem

User · Answer

One of the first things that you should check is that the SQL Server  MSSQLSERVER  is started  You can go to the Services Console  services msc  and look for SQL Server  MSSQLSERVER  to see that it is started  If not  then start the service   You could also do this through an elevated command prompt by typing net start mssqlserver

User · Answer

Under Configuration Manager and Network Configuration and Protocols for your instance is TCP IP Enabled  That could be the problem

User · Answer

I used  LocalDB  MSSQLLocalDB as the server name  I was then able to see all the local databases

User · Answer

For me it was a windows firewall issue  Allow incoming connections  Opening port didn t work but allow programs did   Link  Link2

User · Answer

Please check the ServerName which you provided  It should match with the below shown Name in the UserName textbox  and that name should followed with  SQLEXPRESS

User · Answer

I ve just solved a problem related to this which may help other people   Initially when loading up MSSMSE it had the server as PC NAME SQLEXPRESS and when I tried to connect it gave me Error  26 - Error Locating Server Instance Specified  so I went into SQL Server Configuration Manager to check if my SQL Server Browser and SQL Server services were running and set to automatic  only to find that instead of saying SQL Server  SQLEXPRESS  it says SQL Server MSSQLSERVER    I then tried connecting to PC-NAME MSSQLSERVER and this time got SQL Network Interfaces  error  25 - Connection string is not valid   MicrosoftSQL Server  Error  87  The parameter is incorrect so I googled this error and found that somebody had suggested that instead of using PC-NAME MSSQLSERVER just use PC-NAME as the Server Name at the server connection interface  and this seems to work   There s a link here http   learningsqlserver wordpress com 2011 01 21 what-version-of-sql-server-do-i-have  which explains that MSSQLSERVER is the default instance and can be connected to by using just your hostname   I think this may have arisen because I ve had SQL Server 2008 installed at some point in the past

User · Answer

Start your Local SQL Server Service   Start SQL Config Manager   Click Start -  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 -  SQL Server Configuration Manager Start SQL Services   Set the SQL Server  SQLEXPRESS  and SQL Server Browser services to automatic start mode  Right-click each service -  Properties -  Go into the Service Tab   This will ensure they start up again if you restart your computer   Please check to ensure the state is  Running  for both services     Login and authenticate with your Local SQL Server   Now open up SQL Server Management Studio and click  Connect to Object Explorer  and select Server Name      Your PC name  SQLEXPRESS  Example   8540P-KL SQLEXPRESS or  localhost  SQLEXPRESS   To find your PC name   Right click My Computer -  Properties -  Computer Name tab Alternative   Login using windows authentication   Using the user name  Your Domain   Your User Name      Setup User Account   Create a new Login acct   In SQL Mgmt Studio -  Expand your local Server -  Security -  Right click on Logins -  New Login Set Password settings on New User Account   Uncheck Enforce password policy  password expiration and user must change pw Since this is local  Default database -  Your Database Grant roles to New User Account   User Mapping Page -  Map to your db and grant db owner role Status Page -  Grant Permission to connect and Enable Login     Setup Access Permissions Settings for User   Enable all auth modes  Right click your Local Server -  Properties -  Security Tab -  Enable SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode Enable TCP IP   Open SQL Server Configuration Manager -  SQL Server Network Configuration -  Protocols for SQLEXPRESS -  Enable TCP IP Restart SQL Server Service   You will have to restart the SQL Server SQLEXPRESS  after enabling TCP IP     Database Properties File for Spring Project   database url jdbc jtds sqlserver    local PC Computer name  instance SQLEXPRESS DatabaseName  db name   database username  Your user name  database password  Your password  database driverClassName net sourceforge jtds jdbc Driver   If you want to view larger screen shots and better formatting of the answer with more details please view the blog article below  Setting up a Local Instance of SQL Server 2008 Blog Post

User · Answer

For me it was a windows firewall issue  Allow incoming connections  Opening port didn t work but allow programs did   Link  Link2

User · Answer

I used  LocalDB  MSSQLLocalDB as the server name  I was then able to see all the local databases

User · Answer

I know this question is old  but in case it helps anyone make sure the SQL Server Browser is running in the Services MSC  I installed SQL Server Express 2008 R2 and the SQL Server Browser Service was set to Disabled    Start- Run- Services msc  Find  SQL Server Browser - Right Click- Properties Set Startup Type to Automatic- Click Apply  Retry your connection

User · Answer

Under Configuration Manager and Network Configuration and Protocols for your instance is TCP IP Enabled  That could be the problem

User · Answer

One of the first things that you should check is that the SQL Server  MSSQLSERVER  is started  You can go to the Services Console  services msc  and look for SQL Server  MSSQLSERVER  to see that it is started  If not  then start the service   You could also do this through an elevated command prompt by typing net start mssqlserver

[sql-server-2008] How to connect to local instance of SQL Server 2008 Express

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