INFO: Database Components to Distribute with ADO, ODBC, OLEDB or an RDS Application (266322)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Data Access Components 1.5
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.0
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 (GA)
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 SP1
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.1 SP2
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.5
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.5 SP1
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.6
  • Microsoft Data Access Components 2.7
This article was previously published under Q266322

SUMMARY

For your Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), ODBC, OLE DB or Remote Data Services (RDS) applications to work properly you must distribute Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) with your application. This article discusses Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) redistribution options.

MORE INFORMATION

Mircosoft provides a redistributable installation package for you to include with your application. You can obtain the latest redistribution of MDAC from the following Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/dataaccess

Detailed instructions and Frequently Asked Questions are also provided at the Web site. Please note that starting from MDAC 2.0, the redistribution file is always named as Mdac_typ.exe. From MDAC 2.1 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and higher, our target is to have a release manifesto for each Web release version. You can find several release manifestoes at the following Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/data/MDAC21info/manifest_intro.htm

MDAC contains several ODBC drivers and OLE DB providers. Refer to the preceding Web site for information about the particular version that you download. A piece meal or partial installation of MDAC is not supported because there are numerous interdependencies between the components. System instability can result from an installation that does not include all the components.

Installation through a .cab file is also not supported. Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for further details:

251325 PRB: Using MDAC with Internet Component Downloads

Microsoft Windows 2000 and higher operating systems are preloaded with MDAC. You do not need to ship MDAC with your product if you are targeting Windows 2000 exclusively. Although, you can install a more recent version of the MDAC downloadable files from the following Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/dataaccess

If MDAC is shipped with your application, before you install MDAC on the system, first shut down all applications. Or, warn the users to close all applications. A careless installation of MDAC can lead to disastrous results. If you are faced with a bad installation of MDAC, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

232060 HOWTO: MDAC Setup Troubleshooting Guide

307255 INFO: Component Checker: Diagnose Problems and Reconfigure MDAC Installations

To know exactly what components are shipped with MDAC, refer to the MDAC release manifesto or read one of the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for MDAC 2.1 and higher:

238239 INFO: List of Files Installed by MDAC 2.1 SP 2


232053 INFO: List of Files Installed by MDAC 2.1 (GA)


222129 INFO: List of Files Installed by MDAC 2.0 SP2 (Typical Redist)

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/17/2003
Keywords:kbDatabase kbinfo KB266322
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