KB37 - Memory Leaks using OBDC drivers and Access

Description

You use OBDC and Access and get memory leaks.

Solution

Do not use OBDC Drivers to access Microsoft Access databases!

Use OLEDB Drivers instead. All the sample scripts are set up to use OLEDB.

During our tests we found that the Access ADO OBDC driver can generate small memory leaks with each opening of the database and after thousands of calls this will add up to several megabytes of leaks. We are not sure if this happens with other (non-Access) OBDC database drivers.

The Access OLE DB driver comes standard on Windows 2000. If you are using NT 4.0, you should download and install the latest MDAC drivers. If you have met the minimum requirements for installation, then you should already have all the appropriate drivers installed.