Can't drag and drop an XLS table in ArcMap 10.5.1

[CarlBeyerhelm1]

I recently upgraded to 10.5.1 from 10.3.1 and have noticed that I can no longer drag and drop an XLS table into ArcMap 10.5.1 like I was able to do in 10.3.1.  I get a "Failed to connect..." message, as illustrated below.  But I can drag and drop an XLSX, but I have to open the XLS in Excel first and save it as an XLSX...a bit inconvenient.

Is that a bug, or do I have a dodgy install of 10.5.1, or do I need to make a setting somewhere to be able to drag and drop and XLS, or is that just the way it is?

Thanks.

[DanPatterson_Retired · Accepted solution]

from recent reports.... get used to it... search this site using the error and you will find some threads indicating there was a non-fix, then...

https://community.esri.com/message/722098-unexpected-error-from-the-external-database-driver-1

[CarlBeyerhelm1]

OK.  Thanks for the speedy reply.

So one wonders now if the Table To Excel tool will be re-jiggered to output XLSX...

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Try using the excel to table tool drag and drop is a convenience, but not an optimal approach... also

Excel To Table supports Excel Workbooks (.xlsx) and Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (.xls) formats as input.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

UPDATE...

Forgot about the Oct 17 Windows update.

Hot of the press.....

http://support.esri.com/en/technical-article/000016969

[CarlBeyerhelm1]

OK.  Thank you for the follow-up.

I did apply the 2007 Office System driver as per the technical article cited in your link above.  In my case, however, it did not have the desired effect.  Nevertheless, I appreciate the info.

[AZendel]

The fix mentioned in this article corrected the problem for me. I can now read XLS files in ArcMap/Cat

http://support.esri.com/en/technical-article/000016969

[DanPatterson_Retired]

good, and people with more recent windows updates shouldn't then experience that problem either.

[AZendel]

We had to 'pause' updates in our office because of conflicts with our antivirus.  So the fix didn't get rolled out to my computer when other Win7/10 users probably received updates.  

[curtvprice]

Excel : useful analysis environment -- but a terrible database. Getting data types to come in the way you want, and getting data in without modification can require creating a new tab, pasting data as values, formatting data types, then export to .csv to get things to load up correctly. Usually it's easier, but the fact is Excel is not a database and we really shouldn't try to use it as one.