Exporting to 32 bit Microsoft Access from 64 bit Software

by Joe Eichenseer

How many of you have run into this and found a dead end? You are using a 64-bit workstation (Windows 7, probably) with 64-bit version of some Autodesk software (Revit or Navisworks, perhaps) and want to try out this supposedly nifty neato cool wow export/link to Microsoft Access. You might have run into a problem in that as you work through any export/link wizard, you don't see any way to export to MS Access.

This is probably because:

1. Your Autodesk software is 64-bit, so it needs a 64-bit ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) driver.
2. Your Microsoft Office is 32-bit and has 32-bit drivers available (although tricky to find), but as mentioned above, these won’t work with 64-bit applications.
3. If you have 32-bit MS Office, it will not let you install a 64-bit ODBC driver.

Translation: you’re in a sticky situation. But fortunately, there is a resolution to this one.

It all boils down to just a few steps, but you’ll need to make sure that you have all of the resources you’ll need prior to starting the process. For starters, you’ll need to download the 64-bit MS Access ODBC drivers from Microsoft here:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255

Be sure to grab the 64-bit (AccessDatabaseEngine_x64.exe) version! :)

You will also need to have your MS Office media available – or have some way available for you to reinstall MS Office. Once you have these pieces in place, you have a 3 or 4 step process in front of you:

1. Uninstall Microsoft Office and any other versions of 32-bit Office products that are installed.
2. Uninstall "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable 32-bit" if you installed it at some point in the past.
3. Install the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable 64-bit that you downloaded from the link above. Because all of your 32-bit office products were uninstalled, you should not receive any error messages during the install of the 64-bit drivers.
4. Reinstall Microsoft Office (and any other 32-bit Office products).

After this, you should be able to export from your 64-bit Autodesk application to MS Access and get rolling with figuring out what you might want to do with SQL strings or whatever destination your journey into databases takes you!

Enjoy.

Comments

[Nathan]

My situation is exactly as you describe: Win7 64, Revit2012 64, Office 2010 32. However, after following the instructions, I am still not able to install Office 2010 32 after installing Access 64-bit drivers. After extensive web searches there seems to be mixed reviews on whether this actually works. Is there something I am missing? Any additional insights would be greatly appreciated!

[Damian Serrano]

Hi Joe,
your post assumes the user has MS Office 2010 installed. If you are using MS Office 2007 this post doesn't apply, correct?

[Joe Eichenseer]

Yes, this post does assume Office 2010, and any potential solution focused on Office 2007 would be different. Thanks for pointing out that qualification!

[Joe Eichenseer]

@Nathan, are you stating that you are not able to install 32-bit MS Office 2010 either before or after installing the Access 64-bit Drivers? Your statement of "still not able to install Office" makes me want to check for that clarification.

[Sheena]

Joe, I tried this approach and the 32-bit version won't install with the 64-bit Access driver onthe system. Any other work arounds avaialble?

[Joe Eichenseer]

@ Sheena,
Are you working with Office 2010 and Windows 7, or some other combination? The only other workaround that I am aware of is to get a 64-bit version of MS Office installed and try working that way.

joe