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You receive a SQL Server 2005 connection failure error message when you try to connect to an instance of SQL Server 2008 in SQL Server Management Studio

Article ID: 955638 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to connect to an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 by using an incorrect server name, you receive the following incorrect error message:

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (Provider: Names Pipes Provider, Error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 53)

Note The problem in the error message is that the message incorrectly identifies SQL Server 2005 instead of SQL Server 2008. Or, an incorrect server name is identified in the error message.