64-bit DIAdem with 32-bit Access – how can they be combined?

We addressed this topic some time ago in the NI DIAdem forum, but since the post is difficult or impossible to find via Google search and we are asked about it again and again, we would like to explain it briefly here.

Anyone who uses Microsoft Access databases together with DIAdem to easily extend applications with ODBC/SQL functionality (e.g. for parameter management) will quickly find that access to 32-bit Office databases does not work under 64-bit DIAdem (i.e. all versions after 2017).

The Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable component, which is supposed to solve this problem, can be downloaded from the Microsoft website. When trying to install it, however, the user receives the message “You cannot install the 64-bit version … You must first remove the 32-bit installation of Office products …”.

Since removing the entire Office installation just to give DIAdem access to the databases is not a sensible approach (or is out of the question in a corporate IT environment), a different route must be taken – calling the installer from the command line with the parameter /quiet:

accessdatabaseengine_x64.exe /quiet

Then 64-bit database access works together with the 32-bit Office installation.