I installed SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard on a server, without knowing there was an installation of MSDE (Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine).
After I installed SQL Server 2008 R2 the client software of the MSDE won't start anymore, instead they show the error (translated) "Connection to policy mananger component failed".
(strange, though, on the server itself the client software seems still to work).
Any ideas what I might have broken with the side-by-side installation of SQL Server 2008R2?
And (hopyfully) how to repair it?
I would ensure that the SQL Browser service is running and that the appropriate ports are open on the firewall(s) between the instances and the remote machines that will be connecting. If you can connect to a named instance locally but not remotely, the likeliest problem is a firewall, either the local software firewall or a hardware firewall/switch somewhere on the network.