The "Connect to server" option is made for exactly the same cases and seems to work for a number of users. Are you using the latest PVD version? Could it be an access rights issue in windows? What is the exact error message? Which path do you enter to connect to the database?
o Using .14
o Access rights: Possibly, but I have no idea. The connection was attempted between two vista machines.
o I did this at my sisters home and I don't have the exact error message. The message number was 401 from firebird which is related to authentication
o Path: <computername>:<local computer path>
Maybe a logon to the computer itself is somehow needed?