To connect to your SQL Server 2008 Express edition over network you need to enable the following options:

First: open SQL Configuration Manager (SQLServerManager10.msc):

Double click on ‘Named Pipes’ and enable them.

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Then click ‘OK’ on the bottom. Now we have the access set up, now we need to start the service.

Now open Services (services.msc) and double click on ‘SQL Server Browser’:

Set the startup type to ‘Manual’ or ‘Auto’. That’s up to you. I have it on manual for security reasons. Then you can click start. But we have one more step to do. In the window copy the path to the executable (‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Shared\sqlbrowser.exe’).

Then go to your firewall in your control panel and add the sqlbrowser path to allowed programs.

You’ll eventually see this:

You can also check the public, but that’s not necessary for me. If you set the sqlbrowser service to manual, you’ll need to start it each time you want it (just by making a shortcut to the path we copied above.) If not, it’ll start at startup

Good luck and post your questions below!

I’m going to try replication between 2 SQL Servers Express in one of these days and I’ll post the results on that too!