How do I fix the error 'Named Pipes Provider, error 40 - Could not open a connection to' SQL Server'?

Question

I can\'t seem to connect to my database from a site. I get this error:

Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server

Answer 1

I tried pretty much everything on this page but I had some underlying issues which were actually what needed to be resolved. I was unable to do certain things like open SQL Server Configuration Manager, which ended up being corrupt/missing WMI provider files.

There are lots of tedious ways to resolve this issues according to what I've read, but the tool from tweaking.com was able to remove and replace/repair my WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) Provider files.

I used to do computer repair and overall the tweaking.com tool really impressed me, and it was suggested from one of the WMI error forum pages I went to.

After I fixed this issue I was able to connect to my SQL db, both locally and remotely.

Hope this helps someone.