Don't you hate it when you're debugging an application only to discover that the issue was a stupid typo that was sitting right in front of you?  Well, that happened to me tonight.  First time...honest .  The error message had me off on a wild goose chase when the problem was right in front of me

I am working of some software for a client that requires, alas, that an Access .MDB database be used (the reasons behind this I won't discuss herein, but they are valid).  Upon attempting to connect to the database I would receive an error message that said:

Could not find installable ISAM

Initially I thought I didn't have the latest MDAC (ver 2.81) installed, but that didn't really make sense.  Then I thought maybe it was a permissions issue.   I was googling around and browsing support.microsoft.com for any assistance. Turns out I simply mistyped my connection string.  It's “Data Source” not “DataSource”.  The issue was exacerbated by the fact that the debugger would not hit my breakpoint where the connection string is assigned for some odd reason so I didn't think to look there initially. Well, there went about 20 minutes.  All was not lost however.  I'm recording this little note for me and my posterity (and anyone else) so I might be able to avoid the issue if it crops up again - the resolution might be as simple as fixing a connection string and not having to reinstall any software. :)