MS Access DB Engine 32-bit with Office 64-bit

Question

We currently have a major issue using Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010  The engine comes in 64-bit and 32-bit forms  which is good  However  apparently you need to always install the 32-bit version if the host process is always 32-bit  Fine  we can do this   Our software deals with a lot of legacy components that are 32-bit  and much of it is in VB6 code  which generates 32-bit assembly  So  we are under the assumption that the driver must also be installed as 32-bit  Indeed  when we install 32-bit drivers on a 64-bit machine  and run our 32-bit applications  it works correctly   However  the problem begins when Office 2010 64-bit is installed on the system  Trust me  we ve tried to educate users that 64-bit Office is largely unnecessary  to no avail  As computers come off the assembly line with 64-bit versions installed  we re unable to keep up with support requests when our software breaks something  Either the 64-bit Office breaks our installation  or our installation breaks their Office version  but it s not pretty either way  A further issue is that non-legacy software will sometimes install the 64-bit drivers  as they should   and the two versions simply do not coexist in any reasonable manner  Either our software breaks  or their software breaks   So  has anybody managed to find a way to make the 32-bit drivers coexist with 64-bit installations  I have seen that installing with  passive flag allows the two to be installed  and our installer does use passive  Both are being installed  but once on the system either our software no longer works  or Office constantly repairs its installation  Is there any reasonable way to make this work

User · Accepted Answer

I hate to answer my own questions  but I did finally find a solution that actually works  using socket communication between services may fix the problem  but it creates even more problems   Since our database is legacy  it merely required Microsoft ACE OLEDB 12 0 in the connection string  It turns out that this was also included in Office 2007  and MSDE 2007   where there is only a 32-bit version available  So  instead of installing MSDE 2010 32-bit  we install MSDE 2007  and it works just fine  Other applications can then install 64-bit MSDE 2010  or 64-bit Office 2010   and it does not conflict with our application   Thus far  it appears this is an acceptable solution for all Windows OS environments

User · Answer

Install the 2007 version  it seems that if you install the version opposite to the version of Office you are using you can make it work   http   www microsoft com en-us download details aspx id 23734

User · Answer

Here s a workaround for installing the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 redistributable on a system with a 32-bit MS Office version installed    Check the 64-bit registry key  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Office 14 0 Common FilesPaths  before installing the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 redistributable  If it does not contain the  mso dll  registry value  then you will need to rename or delete the value after installing the 64-bit version of the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 redistributable on a system with a 32-bit version of MS Office installed  Use the   passive  command line parameter to install the redistributable  e g   C  directory path AccessDatabaseEngine x64 exe   passive Delete or rename the  mso dll  registry value  which contains the path to the 64-bit version of MSO DLL  and should not be used by 32-bit MS Office versions     Now you can start a 32-bit MS Office application without the  re-configuring  issue  Note that the  mso dll  registry value will already be present if a 64-bit version of MS Office is installed  In this case the value should not be deleted or renamed   Also if you do not want to use the   passive  command line parameter you can edit the AceRedist msi file to remove the MS Office architecture check    download and install Microsoft Orca  http   msdn microsoft com en-us library windows desktop aa370557 v vs 85  aspx unzip the AccessDatabaseEngine exe or AccessDatabaseEngine x64 exe file  open the AceRedist msi file in Orca search for two table rows containing the  CheckOfficeArchitecture  action and drop these rows save the updated AceRedist msi file   You can now use this file to install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 redistributable on a system where a  conflicting  version of MS Office is installed  e g  64-bit version on system with 32-bit MS Office version  Make sure that you rename the  mso dll  registry value as explained above  if needed

User · Answer

If both versions of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 can t coexists  then your only solution is to complain to Microsoft  regarding loading 64 bits versions of this in your 32 bits app is impossible directly  what you can do is a service that runs in 64 bits that comunicates with another 32 bits service or your application via pipes or networks sockets  but it may require a significant effort

User · Answer

I had a more specifc error message that stated to remove  Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component   I fixed it by following the steps in https   www tecklyfe com fix-for-microsoft-office-setup-error-please-uninstall-all-32-bit-office-programs-office-15-click-to-run-extensibility-component    Go to Start   Run  or Winkey   R  Type    installer     that opens the  windir installer folder   make sure all files are visible in Windows  Folder Settings  Add the column    Subject     and make it at least 400 pixels wide      Right click on the column headers  click More  then find Subject Sort on the Subject column and scroll down until you locate the name mentioned in your error screen     Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component     Right click the MSI and choose uninstall

User · Answer

A similar approach to  Peter Coppins answer   This  I think  is a bit easier and doesn t require the use of the Orca utility    Check the  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Office 14 0 Common FilesPaths  registry key and make sure the value  mso dll  is NOT present   If it is present  then Office 64-bit seems to be installed and you should not need this workaround  Download the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable  From the command line  run  AccessDatabaseEngine x64 exe  passive    Note  this installer silently crashed or failed for me  so I unzipped the components and ran  AceRedist msi  passive and that installed fine   Maybe a Windows 10 thing     Delete or rename the  mso dll  value in the  HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Office 14 0 Common FilesPaths  key    Source  How to install 64-bit Microsoft Database Drivers alongside 32-bit Microsoft Office

User · Answer

Even tried all suggestions  in my case  Office x64 - Visual Studio 2017   the only way to have both access engines on a Office 64x installation so you can use it on Visual Studio and using a 2016  version of Office  is to install the 2010 version of the Engine   First install the x64 from this page   https   www microsoft com en-us download details aspx id 54920   and then the x86 version from this one   https   www microsoft com en-us download details aspx id 13255   as from this blog  http   dinesql blogspot com 2017 10 microsoft-access-database-engine-2016-Redistributable-Setup-you-cannot-install-the-32-bit-version-You-cannot-install-the-64-bit-version html

[32bit-64bit] MS Access DB Engine (32-bit) with Office 64-bit

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