This is an odd one but something worth sharing. GoDaddy’s “Economy” Windows plan doesn’t support a component needed to install WordPress, well or use MySQL at all for that matter if this error is correct. I think it may be more of a WordPress-specific issue, but I didn’t test MySQL connectivity outside of WordPress. You can indeed create a MySQL database from the Account Center though so you would think that WordPress would work, guess not.
Checking around for the error I found some other folks having the same issue. It appears that switching to Linux does the trick. So unless you need ASP support, this is definitely the way to go. The switch is free and completely painless, you don’t even need to contact customer support. Just head over to your account dashboard and follow these instructions. Bear in mind you should back up your site and any databases you have beforehand, just in case.
If you find that you need to switch the operating system of your hosting account, you can do so at any time.
To Switch Your Hosting Account Operating System
- Log in to your Account Manager.
- In the My Products section, select Hosting.
- Click on the name of the hosting account whose operating system you want to change.
- In the Account Details section on the right, click Upgrade/Downgrade Hosting Account.NOTE: If you do not see the Upgrade/Downgrade Hosting Account link, call customer support.
- In the Select New Plan section, select a new hosting plan. You can also upgrade your bandwidth (additional data transfer) and disk space at this time.
- Click Continue.
- If your new hosting plan is an upgrade from your existing plan, proceed through the purchase process. Otherwise, click Save Changes.
This change may make take up to 72 hours depending on the size of the site, the number of databases and other factors that may increase the complexity of the migration. You will receive a email message when we complete your upgrade.
NOTE: If your website contains certain advanced features, such as ASP, ASP.NET, CGI, or PHP applications and you select a hosting plan that does not support those advanced features, your website may no longer function properly after the plan change. Please make sure your website does not contain advanced features BEFORE moving to a plan that may not support them or be prepared to modify your Web content accordingly.
NOTE: If you created databases that are incompatible with the new operating system, you must delete them before proceeding. Data existing in compatible databases will be preserved.
The original instructions can be found on the GoDaddy website here: http://help.godaddy.com/article/1285