I'm about to give up. I've been working on getting SQL SERVER 2012 onto my LONOVO Laptop running Windows 7 for the past 3 weeks. I have a C# program I'm developing using the SQL database (I can't afford to lose the data that is already present). I've downloaded SQL SERVER and associated software about 3 times (3 hours per download) and each time in the end I am unable to connect to my database receiving an assortment of error messages most referring to errors 26, 40, 53, and 50. I know there are about 1000 references to this problem upon Googling for the various error messages. I have attempted to apply a good number of them without success and many others don't apply to my situation or my configuration (Windows 7, attempting to access the database on my local machine with C#).
It's unfortunate that for some reason or other I attempted to upgrade from SQL SERVER 2008 R1 that worked perfectly on this machine. The following are a typical selection of error messages I have received:
"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: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 53)"
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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)
Yes, I've made sure MSSQLSERVER is running
NO SQLBROWSER is not running and when I attempt to start it I get the message:
"This operation could not be completed. Access Denied"
Yes I have attempted to connect with the firewall disabled (same error messages)
I have not been able to manually check whether or not Port 1433 is blocked because I'm not sure how to do this.
This represents just a small number of the things I have attempted.
Question:
1) Any advice on steps I might try on my system to see if I can connect to SQL SERVER 2012 with C#?
2) Is it best to just give up, go back to SQL SERVER 2008 R1, try to get it working and forget about SQL Server 2012?
3) Any other suggestions on how to get my data back?