Hello,

It could possibly be a Firewall issue, or may be it is trying to access the server on a port that is not listening or is not a SQL Server port. You can check the SQL Server ports in the SQL Server Configuration Manager, under the Protocols Node.

Can you please describe your environment a bit more. Do you have a Firewall on the Server? Have you tried a reboot of the Windows Server? Does it work if you try to start it from Windows Service Manager?

Regards,

John Marsh