The 'microsoft.jet.oledb.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine

On Windows 7 64bit and Windows 2008 64bit system a common error may arise when using Microsoft.jet.oledb.4.0 driver. Applications running in 64bit mode may not be able to access this driver. This is because 64bit version of this driver does not exist.

Solution to this problem is as follows:

1. We use 32bit application, 32bit application will be able to access the ODBC drivers

2. If you are a application developer and need to develop a 64bit application which can connect to csv, excel files, etc using ADO.NET. You should use Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 which is a small redistributable and available in both 32bit and 64bit versions.


Summary:

Issue:
The 'microsoft.jet.oledb.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine.
Issue is that Application pool is running in 64bit mode, therefore 32bit Jet drivers not accessible.

Solution:
Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255
Use this provider Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 to connect with csv, excel, etc files.