SQL Run-time error

I have just started to get the following message on a couple of our VB scripts that try to access SQL.
“Run-time error 2147217871 (80040e31)”

Now i know what this is and means, but how do i fix it. I didnt write the scripts and cannot uncomplile them, but how else can i find and fix this problem?
I have basic knowledge of VB and SQL.