A network-related or instance-specific error occurred

Question

I have been using a local database on my laptop for the last view weeks. But today I cannot access it. I get the error:

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)

The system cannot find the file specified"

The database connection is: my-pc.C:\DB\DBV8.1.1.MDF.dbo

Answer 1

Under configuration manager I set the server browser to start (right click and start).

The following page/Answer gives more detail: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6987709/unable-to-connect-to-sql-server-instance-remotely