Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider “MSDASQL” for linked server “(null)”

Question

Having an interesting issue. I\'m reading from an excel file on a server via an OpenRowset in Sql2005. I\'ve run the query a number of times without any problems. I\'ve just

Answer 1

This issue happened to me, as well. A combination of enabling the "Allow inprocess" provider option for the OraOLEDB.Oracle provide (SSMS > Server Objects > Linked Servers > Provides > OraOLEDB.Oracle), restarting the SQL Server Windows service and lastly adjusting the permissions on the TNSNAMES.ora file directly.