I'm on Windows 7 and using free version of SQL Server Management Studio. I try connecting to DB server for the first time. I run the program as administrator.
I go to Connect > Database Engine and get a prompt.
Server name: (local)
Authentication: Windows Authentication
User name (greyed out): PC\ABC
Password (greyed out):
Click Connect and I get:
Cannot connect to (local). Additional information: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while while establishing a connection to SQL Server.
I'm reading MSDN for the past hour which is of course very frustrating and it makes me want to pull my hair out.