Connect to an MS Access Database from SQL Management Studio

I want to connect to an MS Access 2003 DB from SQL Management Studio 2005 so I can run queries on the Access DB from SQL Management Studio.


There are two ways to do this:

  1. Add the MDB as a linked server

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa213778%28SQL.80%29.aspx

  2. Enable Ad Hoc Queries in SQL Server and use OpenDataSource

    http://riteshshah.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/read-xls-or-mdb-file-with-opendatasource-sql-server-2005/

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=266008


You can also import the data into an existing database, via Tasks > Import Data. You can then select into which tables (new if desired) and how to map the columns