Summary

Symptoms

When installing an installation created with InstallShield, the following error may occur:

"Error 1919. Error configuring ODBC data source [1]. Verify that the file exists and that you can access it."

[1] is a placeholder that contains the name of the specific data source being configured.

Cause

This error is known to occur in the following scenarios.

Resolution

1. The data source file referenced in the error message does not exist in the location specified. Verify that the data source file referenced in the error message is present in the specified location. If not present, copy and paste it to that location before rebuilding the installation.
2. The data source file referenced in the error message cannot be accessed. Make sure you have full administrative permissions on the build machine and that you have full permissions to access the folder where the data source file is located. Your network administrator can confirm your level of permissions and adjust accordingly. Once the appropriate permissions are granted, rebuild the installation.
3. MDAC is missing on the target machine. MDAC is a requirement for any package with an ODBC driver. Make sure MDAC is selected in the Redistributables view and rebuild the installation.
4. Some registry entries being removed when some applications are uninstalled. A known Microsoft Windows Installer issue may cause this error in certain cases. Please reference Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q324520 Error 1919. Error configuring ODBC data source.