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I wanted to open an ESRI personal database (.mdb format) into 64-bit QGIS 2.18.14 on a 64-bit Windows 7 laptop with 64-bit MS Office 2010 installed. On my all 32- bit desktop, all I have to do is drag and drop the file into the QGIS browser window to add it to my project. Not so on the 64-bit system, where I get a "Layer is not valid" error.

I followed the directions at Opening Esri Personal Geodatabase (*.mdb) using QGIS?, installing the Access Database Engine and adding the lines from Step 2 into qgis.bat, but when I try to drag and drop the database into the project, I get the same "Layer is not valid" error.

I can add the database following the multi-step procedure outlined in http://www.northrivergeographic.com/qgis-accessing-personal-geodatabase, but this is a lot of work compared to simply dragging and dropping the database.

Is there something else I need to do to be able to drag and drop ESRI Personal Databases into 64-bit QGIS?

PolyGeo
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Terry Morse
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    You need a 64-cross-32-bit driver. Searching for one is a little like a snipe hunt, but the driver is much more elusive. Esri doesn't support Personal Geodatabase with 64-bit Server or Desktop products because obtaining fully functional Jet drivers in 64-bit proved so difficult. If you're wedded to Access, you should probably stick to 32-bit applications. – Vince Dec 14 '17 at 03:25
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    @Vince I think your comment is worth a full answer. – AndreJ Dec 14 '17 at 06:35

1 Answers1

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As commented by @Vince:

You need a 64-cross-32-bit driver. Searching for one is a little like a snipe hunt, but the driver is much more elusive. Esri doesn't support Personal Geodatabase with 64-bit Server or Desktop products because obtaining fully functional Jet drivers in 64-bit proved so difficult. If you're wedded to Access, you should probably stick to 32-bit applications.

PolyGeo
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neogeomat
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  • According to @LaughU 's answer no 2 ''Questions solved by a comment" in https://gis.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4771/reaching-80-000-answered-questions-before-questions-on-our-site-reaches-100-000?cb=1 – neogeomat Feb 26 '18 at 02:36