HOW TO: Check for MDAC Version

SUMMARY

This article describes two different ways to check which version of Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) is installed on a system:

• Use the Component Checker tool.
• Check the version information that is stored in the registry.

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Install and Use the Component Checker Tool

The most reliable way to determine which version of MDAC is installed is to compare the version number of each MDAC DLL file to a list of the DLL files that are shipped with each MDAC version. The Component Checker can help you to do this. It checks the files on the computer, compares them to a list from each version of MDAC, and reports the closest match.

To install Component Checker, follow these steps:

1. Browse to the following Microsoft Web site:

   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F0A8DF6-4A21-4B43-BF53-14332EF092C9&displaylang=en

2. Click the link to download Component Checker. When you are prompted by the browser, save Cc.exe (a self-extracting executable file) to the desktop.
3. On the desktop, double-click Cc.exe; this extracts the Component Checker files and installs to the default location, C:\Comcheck.

To use Component Checker to check the MDAC version, follow these steps:

1. From the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open text box, type c:\comcheck\comcheck.exe and then click OK.
3. In the Component Checker - Choose Analysis Type dialog box, select Perform Analysis of your machine and automatically determine the release version, and then click OK.
4. The program attempts to identify the MDAC version on your computer by scanning all of the core MDAC files and registry settings. This process normally takes several minutes. When finished, you should receive the following message:

   The MDAC version that is closest to the version on your computer is 'XXXX'.
   					

5. Click OK.
6. A summary of the Component Checker scan appears. Note that the Dir, FileDescription, and FileSize errors can be safely ignored.

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Check the Version Information Stored in the Registry

Although not the most reliable way to check the MDAC version, checking the registry for the version information is an easy way to double-check this information (if you are not experiencing any MDAC-related issues).

The version information is found in the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DataAccess\FullInstallVer

To check the registry, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open text box, type regedit and then click OK; this starts Registry Editor.
3. In the Navigation pane, drill-down to the following path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DataAccess

4. In the Details pane, look in the Name column for FullInstallVer and Version. Each of these keys will have corresponding version information in the Data column.
5. When finished, click Exit on the Registry menu to close Registry Editor.

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Troubleshooting

Note that the version information stored in the registry may be incorrect for versions of MDAC prior to 2.1 when compared with the versions of the actual files. Windows 2000 installs version 2.5. Only versions of MDAC later than 2.5 may be installed on Windows 2000.

Downloads for Microsoft Data Access Components are available at the following Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/dataaccess.asp

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