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Repair MDAC WIN XP SP3

Repair MDAC WIN XP SP3

November 9, 2018

MDAC or Microsoft Data Access Components (also known as DAC) is a framework of interrelated Microsoft technologies that allows programmers a uniform and comprehensive way of developing applications that can access almost any data store. Microsoft does not make it easy to reinstall MDAC individually.  So, you’re running Windows XP SP3, you can’t get MDAC to work under XP and reinstalling XP SP3 does not resolve the problem? Here’s what you can do:

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Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or 3 contains MDAC version 2.81, which is currently not available for download at the Microsoft Web site as a standalone installation. If you try to install MDAC 2.8, which is the latest available standalone download of MDAC, you will receive a message that you already have a newer version of MDAC installed. Therefore, under Windows XP SP2/SP3, you must manually repair MDAC 2.81 as outlined below.

How to Repair MDAC 2.81 under Windows XP with SP2 or SP3

In Windows Explorer, open the c:WindowsInf folder.

Note If you cannot see the c:WindowsInf folder, follow these steps:

a. On the desktop, double-click My Computer, and then on the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
b. Click the View tab.
c. Under Advanced settings, select the Show hidden files and folders checkbox.
d. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box.
e. Click OK.

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2. In the C:WindowsInf folder, right-click the Mdac.inf file and then click Install.
3. When you are prompted to insert the Windows XP SP2 CD, use one of the following methods:

I. If you have a Windows XP SP2 CD:
a. Insert the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD in the CD or DVD drive.
Note If a “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP” message appears, click Exit.
b. Click Browse.
c. In the File name box, type CD or DVD drive that contains the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD drive letter:i386. For example, type d:i386 if the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD is in drive D.
d. Click Open.

 

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II. If you do not have a Windows XP SP2/SP3 CD:
a. In the File name box, type %systemroot%windowsservicepackfilesi386, and then clickOpen.
b. When prompted for adcjavas.inc, point to C:Windowsservicepackfilesi386
Note: If you cannot find this folder, put the Windows CD into your CD drive and browse for that file.
c. When prompted for the file handler.reg, either point to C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemmsadc, or put the Windows XP CD in your CD-ROM drive.
d. When prompted for MDACRdMe.htm, point to C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemAdo. If this file is not present, rename the file MDACReadme.htm to MDACRdMe.htm.
e. When prompted for oledbjvs.inc, point to C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemOle DB.
f. When prompted for mssoap1.dll, point to C:Program FilesCommon FilesMSSoapBinaries.
g. When prompted for mssoapr.dll, point to C:Program FilesCommon FilesMSSoapBinaries (or below its subfolders).

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4. You may also be prompted for the original Windows XP CD that was originally used to install the operating system.

a. Insert the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD in the CD or DVD drive.
Note If a “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP” message appears, click Exit.
b. Click Browse.
c. In the File name box, type CD or DVD drive that contains the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD drive letter:i386. For example, type d:i386 if the Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD is in drive D.
d. Click Open.

Note: In case that you cannot find those files in the given folders, search the whole hard disk for them.

Further Optional Steps

  1. Download and installMS Jet 4.0 Service Pack 8
  2. Again, run our MDAC Repair Tool.

Reinstalling MDAC in XP SP3

  1. Click “Start” > “Run” and type “%windir%inf” and click “OK“.
  2. Right-click “mdac.inf” and select “Install“.
    This is where the nightmare started for me. I didn’t have any of the files below. I had to copy the OLE DB, msadc, Ole DB and Binaries folders from another computer and place them in the C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystem folder. If you are missing the servicepackfiles folder, you will have it after you reinstall XP Service Pack 3. You can also just extract the files from the SP3 file by using the windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu.exe –x command.
  3. When prompted for each of the following files, try to browse and locate them in the directories specified.
    • adcjavas.inc – C:Windowsservicepackfilesi386
    • handler.reg – C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemmsadc
    • MDACRdMe.htm – C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemAdo.  I had to rename MDACReadme.htm to MDACRdMe.htm first.
    • oledbjvs.inc – C:Program FilesCommon FilesSystemOle DB
    • mssoap1.dll – C:Program FilesCommon FilesMSSoapBinaries
    • mssoapr.dll – C:Program FilesCommon FilesMSSoapBinaries
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Thanks for reading how to repair, reinstall MDAC on Windows XP Service Pack 2 & 3. If you have any suggestions or questions then feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

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