MS Access Database Engine 2016 not located

[Jshantz8211]

I am using AutoCad Electrical 2021 x64 on Windows 10. On startup I get an error saying that "Microsoft  Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) driver cannot be located."  I know the driver is installed and working. I originally had the same error when I first installed the program and i resolved it by switching all my Office products to x64.   It worked for about 3 days then quit again. I have rebooted, uninstalled, reinstalled, deleted, and updated to no avail.  Any suggestions?

I know this is a common issue when you have 32bit microsoft products but I got IT to help me with a manual removal of Office and upgraded to x64. We went through the registry and everything. I also deleted the 32bit access engine and associated C++ and the x64 version successfully installed when I reinstalled AutoCAD. I don't think thats the issue anymore because it worked fine for a bit. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

[rhesusminus]

Can you go into Control Panel -> Programs and Feature and run a repair on the database engine?

[Jshantz8211]

Yes I have already tried that, uninstalled/reinstalled it a couple times too. no luck

[rhesusminus]

@yuvaraj_jaganathan is this also a known issue?

[rhesusminus]

I got this today as well. This won't work. I'm also running x64 apps only. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-electrical/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarti...

[Jshantz8211]

@rhesusminus  by "I got this today as well" are you saying you have the same error coming up or are you referring to the finding that help link? I've been through all those instructions several times already and I haven't got it working.  I wonder if the issue could be related to microsoft updates.      Are you running .msi office or click-to-run?

I also included a screenshot of an error that gets logged every time i try to run ACADE but not sure if it's related

[rhesusminus]

Yup. Got the same error message all of a sudden. I'm just letting Windows Update take care of all updates, also for other Microsfot products.
I've been working with EPLAN since, which ALSO use the SAME access database driver, on the SAME computer.. But.. You know.. It works.

[Jshantz8211]

I see, well I'm glad I'm not alone on this. Was almost ready to do something drastic like completely wipe my computer or something. I've also debated uninstalling office but I'm working from home on a metered LTE connection so I'm not sure I want to redownload

[joseph.langKN8RA]

We're using 64-bit O365 apps on the same laptop I'm having ACADe issues on.  I've done all the following with attempting to reload ACADe each time between steps:  downloaded all windows updates /rolled them back to the date the user noticed issues.  Installed the MS Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) several times.  Updated all Windows updates again since the Access DBE didn't work.  Applied all Autodesk patches indicated were available.  

[p.gardnerRGQ5E]

I got this message today. Is there a solution/resolution?

[testsubject]

Me too.

I did a reboot and it appears to have gone away but I am not holding my breath. I am using ACE 2022 and Windows 10.

[p.gardnerRGQ5E]

There is an update for 2021 that references this. I installed 2023 and the IT dept. had to do something to get the error cleared from the 2023 version.

[awnrycuss]

We have had 3 separate stations "all of a sudden" get this same error.  All of them appeared a few days apart last week and this week.  The only solution we found so far is to uninstall all instances of ACADE and re-install.  This is a huge headache as it takes awhile to achieve this and our environment has to be set back up on each machine as well.  I don't believe it is related to O365 as every machine we have, is running 64bit Office.  Has anyone actually figured out a fix to this without the wipe and re-install

[jallenDBQ7U]

Hopefully the support department has someone who looks at this forum because this is occurring to more than a few of us.  AutoDESK should have their software not depend on Microsoft Office for operation.  They should put in their own exe's, dll's, etc.

[jallenDBQ7U]

Mine is still here after a reboot.  Anyone have any ideas?  I can't go backwards on Microsoft Office.  It is organizational software from a division that isn't local.  AutoDESK needs to quit borrowing use of Office drivers and get their own in their installation package.

[Jshantz8211]

After IT ran out of ideas and Autodesk help didn't give me any leads I eventually wiped my machine and reinstalled windows. As you can see in first post I had no luck with reinstalling just the AutoCAD program.

[jallenDBQ7U]

Multiple retries will eventually get it to open without the error.  It took five tries and it worked.  I then closed it and it took three more tries to get it to open without the error.

EDIT*

Details from AutoDesk website:

Causes:

• Missing or incorrect reference to Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 or 2016.
• Running of the driver test executable is restricted by a security policy.

[p.gardnerRGQ5E]

My IT uninstalled ACCESS and reinstalled. That seems to be the fix.

[p.gardnerRGQ5E]

ACCESS reinstall fixed mine.
[cid:image002.jpg@01D8498C.74E2CF60]

[rhesusminus]

I installed EPLAN. That fixed it for me 😅