error: 26 - error locating server/instance specified in sql server 2008

Hi All,

This is Arun from Chennai. I have developed my first application in WPF (C#) with VS 2008 & SQL Server 2008. It works fine in my system. After deployment, it wont works in other systems. It shows the following error message.

system.data.sqlclient.sqlexception - 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 instance name is correct and sql server is configured to allow remote connections.(provider: sql network interfaces, error: 26 - error locating server/instance specified).

I have gone through the google and done the following steps but no use.

Server Name : ECARE432\SQLEXPRESS
Instance Name : SQLEXPRESS
App.Config have:
<connectionStrings>
<add name="TimeTracker.Properties.Settings.myecareConnectionString" connectionString="Data Source=ECARE432\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=myecare;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=sa;Password=ecare123@" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>
</connectionStrings>


1. Visual Studio-->Tools-->Options-->Database Tools-->Data Connections-->
Changed "SQL Server Instance Name" from "sqlexpress" to blank.

2. Configuration Tools->SQL Server Configuration Manager->SQL Native Client Configration
Aliases->
Alias Name -> ECARE432\SQLEXPRESS,1433
Port Number -> 1433
Protocol -> TCP/IP
Server Name -> ECARE432\SQLEXPRESS

3. SQL Server Browser is running in my system.

4. Server Name is correct. No typo mismatch.

5. Client machine is able to ping my machine.

6. TCP 1433 and UDP 1434 Exception added to Firewall. Also Turned off the Firewall in both my system and the client system.

Please guide me how to fix this issue.

Tags: SQL Server, SQL Server 2008