Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Cannot connect to the configuration database

You receive a "Cannot connect to the configuration database" error message when you connect to your Windows SharePoint Services Web site. For troubleshooting this issue, refer to Microsoft KB Article 823287 .

This article covers the most common causes that would occur in a real environment. I want to add that I received this error in a virtual pc environment when I accidentally allocated 128MB to the vpc instead of the 1024 I intended. At 128MB the SharePoint server choked and sql didn't start properly and it resulted in this message. After recreating the vmc using 1024MB memory, then I was able to open the site with no problems.