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I am using SQL Server 2016 Express, trying to connect to an Access Database on another server on the network, via an ODBC Data Source. I have looked up a number of tutorials and tried a variety of different methods, but cannot get the connection to work. Ultimately I seem to be stuck on this error:

[Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] The specified DSN contains an architecture mismatch between the Driver and Application (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 7303)

To rule out permissions and networking issues, I have copied the database to the local machine to try to create a test connection. I have verified that the security settings for Microsoft Access are OFF (meaning there is no username / password to log in). I am making sure to use the 32-bit version of the ODBC Data Source Administrator (in Windows\SysWOW64\), have tried a variety of settings in SQL Server, and have even tried creating the linked server directly via T-SQL code, like this:

EXEC sp_addlinkedserver
     @server = N'TESTLINK',
     @provider = N'MSDASQL',
     @srvproduct = N'',
     @datasrc = N'TEST';

Here are the current settings I am using to try to create this connection, where I keep getting this error:

ODBC Data Source

New Linked Server Dialog

Linked Server Security Settings

Error Message

Note that I have also tried each of the settings on the Security tab of the New Linked Server dialog, but have received errors each time.

If anyone has an idea to what I might be missing here, please let me know.

EDIT: There is a similar question here, but it is an old thread, and the highly rated answers were unsuccessful for me (I had already tried):

The specified DSN contains an architecture mismatch between the Driver and Application. JAVA

The key to resolving my issue was that I needed to specifically download the 64-bit version of the Access ODBC driver, which can be downloaded here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=13255

Tim Leaf
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    Have you looked at [The specified DSN contains an architecture mismatch between the Driver and Application. JAVA](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8895823/the-specified-dsn-contains-an-architecture-mismatch-between-the-driver-and-appli) ? – Rachel Ambler Jun 05 '17 at 19:13
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    If the SQL Server process is running as 64-bit, which seems likely, then it presumably will want to talk to a 64-bit ODBC driver. – Gord Thompson Jun 05 '17 at 19:24
  • @GordThompson Yes, this is 64-bit SQL Server. We need it to be 64-bit. Are you saying that I need to install something for SQL Server that will allow it to connect to the 32-bit ODBC driver? That makes sense... I am looking up some info on that. – Tim Leaf Jun 05 '17 at 19:27
  • And to be clear, I mentioned this in the question, but yes the ODBC driver is 32-bit, and I made sure of that, using the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator (in `Windows\SysWOW64` directory). You can see this in the 1st screenshot. – Tim Leaf Jun 05 '17 at 19:29
  • I'm suggesting that you'll probably need to use the 64-bit version of the Access ODBC driver (or perhaps the 64-bit version of the Access OLEDB provider) if you want a 64-bit process to be able to work with it. – Gord Thompson Jun 05 '17 at 19:30
  • There is no 64-bit driver for Microsoft Access, it seems... https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/officeversion_other-access/64-bit-driver-for-dsn-for-ms-access-database/be8c0ad4-d8fd-48e0-9026-b95d84135820 – Tim Leaf Jun 05 '17 at 19:36
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    That thread is 7 years old. 64-bit (and 32-bit) versions of the Access Database Engine components are available [here](http://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=13255). – Gord Thompson Jun 05 '17 at 19:43
  • Thank you very much @GordThompson! That resolved my issue. If you want to write an "Answer" I will accept it. – Tim Leaf Jun 05 '17 at 21:21

1 Answers1

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If the SQL Server process is running as 64-bit (which seems extremely likely these days) then it needs to have the 64-bit version of the Access Database Engine components installed. They are available for download here.

Gord Thompson
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