Creating ODBC Connections on Windows
When connecting to your SQL Server database with the admin tool you will need to connect via a DSN. If you are not familiar with how to create a DSN then follow the instructions in this lesson.
Launch the Administrative Tools Application
From the Control Panel, launch Administrative Tools.
Important Note: If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows you need to open the 32-bit version of the ODBC Administrator which you can find here:
c:\windows\sysWOW64\odbcad32.exe
For more information you may refer to this article on the Microsoft website:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms712362(VS.85).aspx
Open Data Sources (ODBC)
Within the Administrative Tools folder you will find a shortcut to Data Sources (ODBC). Launch this application.
Install a System DSN
1) After the application finishes launching click on the System DSN tab. You can install a DSN that is available to any user that logs into the computer from here.
2) Click on the Add button.
Select SQL Server Native Client Driver
If you are using SQL Server 2008 or later than select the SQL Server Native Client 10.0 driver. If you are using SQL Server 2005 then use the SQL Server driver. Click Finish.
If SQL Server Native Client 10.0 does not appear in your list then you need to download and install it from the Microsoft website. DO NOT USE the SQL Server ODBC driver. To download the driver visit:
Download and run the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client installer to install the SQL Server Native Client 10.0 ODBC driver. After running the installer start over with this lesson.
Configure DSN Properties
In the next dialog that appears enter screensteps_workgroup for the name (1) and specify the location of the database server (2).
Click Next (3).
Enter Login Information
On this screen enter the username and password for the user you created in the previous lesson (1).
Click Next (2).
Confirm Settings
Confirm that your dialog has the same settings as shown here then click Next.
Confirm that your dialog has the same settings as shown here then click Finish.
Test Data Source
In the final dialog click the Test Data Source... button to confirm that you can connect to SQL Server.
If the test is successful you can click OK to continue. If the test is not successful then go back and make the necessary changes based on the error message and try the test again.
The Result
You should now have a new System DSN in the list.
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