Lately many users report errors when trying to import an Excel XLS table into ArcGIS. It appears that recent updates to Windows (KB4041681, KB4041676) are generating a conflict that leads to the following error:
Failed to connect to database.
General function failure
Unexpected error from external database driver (1).
But until they correct this error, we will show some solutions that have managed to solve this problem to different users:
- Install the 2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components, reboot the computer and try to import the XLS file.
- In ArcGIS 10.5 try to import an Excel table as XLSX.
- If it is not yet possible to import an XLS or XLSX table, export it as CSV, TXT or DFB.
- The easiest way is to open the XLS file in Excel, then open ArcMap and import the Excel table (video).
When trying to join Excel in ARC GIS 10.2.2 I keep getting the following message: “Failed to connect to database. An underlying database error occurred. Class not registerd.” Any ideas how to resolve?