mysql_connect(): A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time
Shouldn’t be using these functions anymore anyway as they are discouraged, however, if you are using localhost as your database host, try using the IP address – 127.0.0.1 instead.
I had this problem on Windows 8 Customer Preview, and this has fixed it. I think there must be some confusion over the machine names, or something.