>Hi,
>
>The customer is not able to connect to the SQL Server from the PC where VFP application resides. The server name is
>XXX.XXX.XX.XXX/SQLEXPRESS (obviously the Xs refer to the IP of the server).
>
>The customer can PING the server IP. But the PING to the XXX.XXX.XX.XXX/SQLEXPRESS fails.
>The customer tells me that they checked and the server is running. How can I verify that the server is up and running? What else can I asked them to check?
>
>TIA.

Make sure the SQL server is set to allow remote connections (in sql configuration). make sure TCP protocol is enabled (in sql configuration). Make sure TCP port 1433 is allowed if any firewall is between your application and the SQL server.