You are likely to run into this error after renaming a server with:

stsadm -o renameserver

Or changing the name of your domain, or the domain your server is a member of.

It's generally because you didn't follow the appropriate order-of-operations for the change, but just the same, it can be rather tedious to isolate the correct fix.

Fixing it:

The first thing you should confirm is that you've fixed your Alternate Access Mappings.  If you can't get to central administration, you can do this via the STSADM tool.

Enumerate Mappings:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288303.aspx

Add Mapping:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287762.aspx

Delete Mapping:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287725.aspx

Next, ensure that your farm account is accurate, especially if a domain changed:

Do this using the STSADM update farm credentials command:

stsadm.exe -o updatefarmcredentials -userlogin domain\username -password password

Then do an IISRESET.