Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Prepping for a Fabric certification exam? Join us for a live prep session with exam experts to learn how to pass the exam. Register now.

Reply
rahult
New Member

Could not connect to pubs database installed on PC

Hello people, I am very new to Power BI and kindly excuse the naivety of the question.I downloaded and installed a pubs database(SQL Server 2000 Sample Databases) to perform some exercises. The book I am referring to uses that database. When I clicked Get Data-Database-SQL Server Database-Import option for Data connectivity and gave the server name as my computer name and left the database option blank I got this message. 

 

Details: "Microsoft SQL: 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)"

 

I read all the posts to be frank but I am not sure how to go about this. 😞

 

Thanks and Regards

Rahul

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

5 REPLIES 5
dkay84_PowerBI
Microsoft Employee
Microsoft Employee

The server name is not your computer name. It is the name of your instance of SQL.

Thank you sir

And how does one find the instance

Try this link
http://bit.ly/2mRbTvb

Haha. Thanks. I did that already. I think my SQL basics are not clear. I have decided to view some intro videos and solve the problem. But thanks heaps. Coming from a non techie world to this is bit tough. But I will get there. Thanks again 

melian
Frequent Visitor

Did you find a solution to this problem? I am studying the same book. I don't have a tech background either. I am stuck with this issue for a few days now and can't find figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. 

Helpful resources

Announcements
May PBI 25 Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - May 2025

Check out the May 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.

May 2025 Monthly Update

Fabric Community Update - May 2025

Find out what's new and trending in the Fabric community.