TechNote (Archived)

Dreamweaver and Microsoft's Data Access Components (MDAC)

Microsoft's Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.6 or higher (2.7 for ASP.NET development) is required by Macromedia Dreamweaver to provide database connectivity.

If MDAC is not installed, even if it will not be used during page development, an error will be encountered at startup, "A Required DLL file ODBC32.DLL was not found."

If a version prior to 2.6 is installed errors may be encountered when using Dreamweaver. This TechNote discusses how to check the version of MDAC installed on the machine, which helps determine ifupdating MDAC is necessary.

Note: This TechNote is for informational purposes only. Macromedia does not provide support for third-party software.

MDAC versions that come with Windows operating systems

Certain Windows operating systems already come with Microsoft Data Access Components. Here is a quick list of the MDAC versions that ship with corresponding Windows operating systems.

• Windows 95 - Not initially installed
• Windows 98 - Not initially installed
• Windows NT - Not initially installed
• Windows 2000 - MDAC 2.5
• Windows ME - MDAC 2.5
• Windows XP (Home and Pro) - MDAC 2.7

Note: Windows applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Service Packs ship with various versions of MDAC. Further information can be found in Microsoft's DLL Database by searching for the keyword MSADO15.dll.

Checking the MDAC version using Component Checker

Before installing MDAC on any machine, it's a good idea to use Microsoft's Component Checker utility, which can help diagnose issues with MDAC installation and determine what version is installed.

Follow these basic steps to use the Component Checker utility.

1. Download and install MDAC Utility: Component Checker from the Microsoft web site.
   
   Note: The link to download the Component Checker on the Microsoft website is located at the right side of the Quick Info box.
2. From the Start menu select Run and enter "C:\ComCheck\ComCheck.exe."
   The Component Checker will appear with an analysis selection dialog box.
3. Choose the option "Perform analysis of your machine and automatically determine the release version" and click OK.
   
   Note: A message with the closest version number matching the MDAC installed should appear after several minutes of diagnostics.
4. If the Component Checker determines that you have an MDAC version lower than 2.6 then, an MDAC upgrade is necessary to meet the minimum requirements of Dreamweaver MX.

Downloading and installing MDAC

If the version of MDAC currently installed on the Windows machine is lower than 2.6 it must be upgraded for Dreamweaver MX to function correctly.

1. Choose the latest MDAC version from the Microsoft web site.
   
   Note: The current version of MDAC available as of this TechNote writing is MDAC 2.71 SP1.
2. Click the Download link located on the right side of the Quick Info box.
3. Start the installation by launching the MDAC installer downloaded from the Microsoft web site.
4. Restart the Windows machine and start using Dreamweaver MX's dynamic features.

Additional Information

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For more information on Microsoft Data Access Components visit the Microsoft Data Access Technologies web site.

For more information about using Dreamweaver MX for developing dynamic or database driven web pages visit the Developer Center: Database Topic Center or Dreamweaver related web sites (TechNote 12607).

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