5

I haven't done this in quite a while, but years ago I have set up DSNs for an ODBC connection using Windows 2000 and maybe Windows XP. I remember there being a Data Sources or ODBC icon to click in Control Panel.

I need to do the same in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003 but I can't find any icon for a tool to do it in Control Panel. I also checked in Programs -> Accessories but couldn't find anything there either. I'm running 64 bit Windows 7.

How do I set up DSNs in Windows 7 and Windows 2003 Server?

GiddyUpHorsey
  • 569
  • 4
  • 11
  • 21
  • 2
    Despite getting answers that enabled me to load the DSN tool, it kept crashing everytime I used it. I found a tool by the same name under `C:\Windows\SysWOW64` which isn't crashing. – GiddyUpHorsey Jul 28 '11 at 04:53
  • 1
    +1 for the update (which includes valuable information). The full path, for anyone who's interested, is: **C:/Windows/SysWOW64/ODBCAD.exe** – Randolf Richardson Jul 28 '11 at 05:03

2 Answers2

5

In both Server 2003 and Windows 7, it is located in Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Data Sources.

enter image description here

KCotreau
  • 25,519
  • 5
  • 48
  • 72
  • Post back with more details if you need further specific help on how to configure a connection. In most cases, I would use a System DSN. – KCotreau Jul 28 '11 at 04:32
  • Indeed, that is where it is. I'm sure I looked in there before! I wonder if I'm just blind or if it appeared after running it from the command line. – GiddyUpHorsey Jul 28 '11 at 04:51
  • @GiddyUpHorsey Even though I have been doing this for a long time, and even know where it is, I always expect it to be a top level icon in Control Panel. – KCotreau Jul 28 '11 at 04:52
2

I encountered this problem last year in 64-bit Windows, and solved it by running the ODBC management GUI from a Command Prompt (will also work from the "Start -> Run" command):

C:\Windows\System32\ODBCAD32.exe

You may, however, encounter crashing issues when configuring some driver-specific features, but I've noticed that the crashes occur after the settings have been changed.

(Of course, the best thing to do is get updated software that doesn't require 32-bit ODBC GUI management tools, but that's not always possible with certain discontinued products, so it's quite nice that ODBCAD32.exe is included with Windows 7.)

Gaff
  • 18,569
  • 15
  • 57
  • 68
Randolf Richardson
  • 14,634
  • 39
  • 52
  • 1
    That certainly gets the screen loaded up that I remember, but it is crashing before a new System DSN can be finished :( – GiddyUpHorsey Jul 28 '11 at 04:48
  • Make sure your system is up-to-date (I recall that Service Pack 1 resulted in this tool crashing a lot less). If that fails, then I'd suspect the database driver as being the most likely culprit. (It's too bad this solution didn't work out for you, but +1 for posting that it didn't because these sorts of updates are helpful.) – Randolf Richardson Jul 28 '11 at 04:54
  • The machine doesn't have SP1 on it so that figures :) The `C:\Windows\SysWOW64` version works good though. – GiddyUpHorsey Jul 28 '11 at 05:00
  • I've noticed that C:/Windows/SysWOW64/ODBCAD.exe doesn't exist on all systems, so you might want to get a copy of it _before_ running the updates just in case one of the updates is deleting it (I don't know if any DLLs that it _might rely on_ would get deleted too). – Randolf Richardson Jul 28 '11 at 05:02
  • The name ODBCAD32 is confusing. `C:\Windows\System32\ODBCAD32.exe` is 64-bit version. `C:\Windows\SysWow64\ODBCAD32.exe` is 32-bit version. – rustyx Dec 07 '15 at 13:50