Renaming an SQL Server 2008 Instance

From:

http://www.modhul.com/2008/01/15/renaming-a-sql-server-instance/

– Get the current name of the SQL Server instance for later comparison.

SELECT @@servername

– Remove server from the list of known remote and linked servers on the local instance of SQL Server.

EXEC master.dbo.sp_dropserver '[SERVER NAME]'

– Define the name of the local instance of SQL Server.

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addserver '[NEW SERVER NAME]', 'local'

– Get the new name of the SQL Server instance for comparison.

SELECT @@servername

Note: be careful of the quotes, they should be single quotes instead of the fancy ones mentioned on the blog.