ODBC connections are an integral part of many applications, especially in the enterprise. Windows 7 x64 has a robust well developed ODBC connection client, but it can be slightly tricky when moving from 32 bit windows XP to 64 bit Windows 7

3 Steps total

Step 1: Find the 32 bit ODBC connector

Download Oracle ODBC driver (32/64 bit) for free. Oracle ODBC driver (32/64 bit) - Devart ODBC Driver for Oracle provides high-performance and feature-rich connectivity solution for ODBC-based applications to access Oracle databases from Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, both 32-bit and 64-bit.

What you will notice is that when you run Data Sources (ODBC) from the administrative tools on Windows 7 x64, it doesn't have many of the drivers, such as the 'SQL Server' driver. This is very important, and it does still exist, just in a different place. To find it open Windows Explorer and navigate to: C:WindowsSysWOW64 in this directory (which stands for windows on windows) you will find an exe named 'odbcad32.exe'. This is where all the old 32 bit odbc drivers are located.

Step 2: Run this ODBC admin as usual

Now that you have found it, you can run this as an administrator either by loggin in as an administrator, or right clicking it and selecting 'Run as administrator'. Once you do, go to the 'System DNS' tab, click 'Add'. Once you do this, pick the appropriate ODBC driver, and go through the following prompts as you would have in 32 bit Windows XP. Once finished make sure it is saved and exit the ODBC administration tool.

Step 3: Run application again

Find the appropriate program that you were trying to use that requires a 32 bit ODBC driver, and attempt to run it again. It should now run just fine. Note: if the program has a native 64 bit client, and has a native 64 bit odbc driver, you should stick with this as this will be the future of computing.

Logic pro 10.2.4 download. Hope this helps give a bit better understanding of Windows 7 64 bit ODBC, as well as how the 32 bit emulator works in Windows 7 x64.

5 Comments

• Anaheim
  DavidHeath Oct 2, 2012 at 09:15pm

  This can be even more confusing in Windows 8. Both odbc connection managers now have a 'platform' column that tells you which version of the driver you are using. Regardless of what this says, you still need to use the odbcad32.exe from c:windowssyswow64 to connect with your 32-bit applications.

• Pimiento
  john.m.brent Apr 3, 2013 at 10:41pm

  just thought it was interesting to note that each ODBC app creates entries that the other cannot see ..

  the ODBC app under the Control Panel creates registry entries at 'computerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREODBCODBC.INI'

  the app under SysWOW64 creates entries at 'computerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeODBCODBC.INI'

• Sonora
  KeithFS Nov 7, 2013 at 05:46pm

  We are getting an error that says the setup routines for the Oracle in instantclient_11_2 ODBC driver could not be loaded to to system error code 193:

  Any idea why this is happening?

• Jalapeno
  rogalskij Nov 11, 2013 at 01:21pm

  What Oracle client are you using? I have found better success with the smaller clients and have had problems with the full thing.

• Sonora
  Jordan Sanders Sep 2, 2015 at 12:02pm

  If someone have any problems with ODBC connection to SQL Server or Oracle then I recommend you to look at this SQL Server and Oracle connection guides https://www.devart.com/odbc/sqlserver/docs/driver_configuration_and_conne.htm
  https://www.devart.com/odbc/oracle/docs/driver_configuration_and_conne.htm