Currently, Toad does not have a separate field for specifying a port number.

Solution:

You can connect if you know the port number for the instance by entering the following in the Server name field on the New Connection window:

ServerName,Port

or

IPAddress,Port

For example:   

10.1.29.129,1234 (where 1234 is the port number of the instance) 

Remote connections may not be enabled in SQL Server 2005. Also, named instances are configured to use dynamic ports and select an available port once the SQL Server Service starts. If you are connecting to a named instance through a firewall, configure the Database Engine to listen on a specific port, so that the appropriate port is opened in the firewall.

Note: Remote connections are disabled by default in the Express and Developer editions of SQL Server 2005.

Solution:

To enable remote connections, see "How to configure SQL Server 2005 to allow remote connections" at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914277

You attempted to migrate settings from a previous install of Toad to the current install, but the settings file (InitialSqlServer.Sql) for the previous install was either removed, moved, or corrupt.

You may also receive this error if you installed Toad and migrated settings from a previous version, and later uninstalled the previous version.

Solution:

You must specify a valid location for the InitialSqlServer.Sql file in Toad.

To specify a valid location

1. Open the SQL Server options page under Tools | Options | Database | SQL Server.

2. Specify the location for the new install's InitialSqlServer.Sql file in the Run Script on new connection field.

By default, this file is located in the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Quest Software\Toad Data Studio version \Templates\Scripts

Note: Clicking may result in a "Path not found error". If you receive this error, manually enter the location in the field.  

If you are trying to connect to the server using Named Pipes, "Poll service status in connection list" option should be cleared.

Solution:

1. Open the options page under Tools | Options | Database | General.
2. Clear Poll service status in connection list checkbox.

To utilize majority of Toad functionality VIEW DEFINITION grant is required for those databases you want to work with.