How to change the Instance Name of SQL Server

SQL Server uses its own name, which could be different than the network server name, in order to know the name of your SQL server run the next command:

sp_helpserver
select @@servername


In order to change the name of the server you need to use the next commands:

sp_dropserver 'old_name'
go
sp_addserver 'new_name','local'
go

Don't get scare with the name of the commnad "DROP SERVER", it is just making reference to the SQL name.

After you ran the commands all you have to do is restart the SQL Server service, use the command @@servername to verify the new name of your server.