Setting up Oracle ODBC on Windows 7

Just a quick note note of the steps I took to setup a Oracle 11g ODBC connection on a Windows 7 desktop:

• Download the appropriate Oracle Instant Client
• Get the Basic and the ODBC zip files
• Unzip both into the same folder (e.g. C:\OracleInstantClient\ )
• Execute odbc_install.exe in the Instant Client Folder
• Change your System Environment variables:
• Add the Instant Client Folder to the path
• Create a ORACLE_HOME and add the Instant Client Folder
• Create a “network\admin” folder in the Instant Client folder and create your tnsnames.ora file in there, with the appropriate values.
• You are now able to create a DSN in the ODBC manager using the Oracle driver that uses the TNS names defined in the .ora file

Hope this helps someone

VS2010 and Web Standards Update Pain

I recently moved to a Windows 7 64bit machine and began my install dance. When I tried to install the excellent Web Standards Update extension, it complained that it couldn't find SP1. Re-installing or removing and installing did not help.

In the Q and A pages I found a solution:

• Using the free InstEd It! tool I modified the MSI
•  In the Tables tab -> select the CustomAction entry -> remove the VSDCA_VsdLaunchConditions row
• Save and install the MSI

Now I had found I could not open any css file. It seems the problem was that my Visual Studio was not installed in the OS drive. I copied the {OS drive}\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10\Common7\Packages to the corresponding folder on my installion drive, and happiness! Everything worked.

Quite the hack, but I hope it helps someone. Just don't blame me if things break :)