Oracle Database Express Edition (XE)

After successfully installing Oracle 10g express edition on a windows 7 64-bit system several problems occurred while using it. I like to share the problems I encountered and the solutions I have found.

IE8 problem
When opening the Oracle database homepage in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) 32-bit version and after login everything works fine except when clicking on the “Object Browser” icon a page not found (HTTP error-404) occurs. With IE8 64-bit the error doesn’t occur. I didn’t found the cause for this, anyone know why?

ODBC problem with Data Source Administrator
The Oracle ODBC driver is located in C:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\10.2.0\server\BIN\sqora32.dll and is registered as a 32-bit driver. But the default ODBC Data Source Administrator only shows the 64-bit drivers that’s why you don’t see the Oracle ODBC driver in the driver list. The solution is to start the 32-bit version of the ODBC Data Source Administrator. You can find this version in the location %windir%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe. The default 64-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator is located in %windir%\system32\odbcad32.exe.

ODBC problem using Access 2003
When trying to use a created ODBC connection in MS Access 2003 an “ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified” error occurs. The cause is that MS Access 2003 is located in Program Files (x86) and this name is in the pad string used in the ODBC connection data. The Oracle TNS can not handle the ( ) used in Program Files (x86). The solution for this is to copy the msaccess.exe file form C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11 to a different folder without using ( ) and use that file to start Access.