We are really struggling getting around this common error when installing the Oracle instant Client 64 bit drivers on a new Windows Server 2022 Standard edition computer. We've had this same issue installing on a Windows 10 PC. We followed the instructions at https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/instant-client/winx64-64-downloads.html.
We have the path set to: C:\oracle\instantclient_23_5
TNSAdmin set to:C:\oracle\instantclient_23_5\network\admin\
Installation location is : C:\oracle\instantclient_23_5
Redistributables are as follow: Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.40.33810 AND Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 - 2022 Redistributable (x86) - 14.38.33135
We ran the ODBC-Install to register the driver. If we go to the ODBC for 64 bit setup, all appears correct with the the ability to add the 64 bit driver in the create new Data source Dialog. The TNS Service names are being read properly. As soon as we try to test the connection, it fails with:
Unable to connect
SQLState=IM003
Specified driver could not be loaded due to system error 126: The specified module could not be found. (Oracle in instantclient_23_5, C:\oracle\instantclient_23_5\SQORA32.dll).
The file is there and the location is in the path statement. I don't think the registry is being properly updated with the location of the files but I don't know where to look.