Excel 2016 - power query error "Initialization of the data source failed"

Question

Hi, fresh new install of Windows 10 and Office standard 2016 64 bits on a new PC,

I'm starting with a new Excel 2016 sheet, making a new query with Get Data (tried both data sources : SQL Server native and ORACLE with ODBC and instant client installed).

The data are well loaded in the Query Editor that pops up (so both connections work), but when I click on "close and load" I have the Excel error "intialization of the data soruce failed".

I tried same operation on another PC with same configuration (Windows 10 and Office Standard 2016) and it works fine.

Any idea of the cause?

Thank's for help.

Olivier

Answer 1

To add some test notes to my previous message: the same error occurs even with a simple CSV sheet, so it's not database related.

We did the same test on another fresh new Windows 11 PC with also Excel 2016 64 bits with another Windows account with admin rights and get same error.

Even logged with an office 365 account within Excel 2016 get the same error.

And yet on other PCs it works.

Include error picture

Answer 2

I am having the same problem on my new system with Windows 10 and Excel 2016. I open a new excel and make a simple table with 3 rows and 3 columns; then load it into Power Query using From Table option. Next when I click on close and load to, I get the "intialization of the data soruce failed" error. When I try the same thing on my colleagues system with same configuration it works. But it doesn't work on my new system. All I know it that my company's IT guy had to uninstall & reinstall the Excel twice on the new system because he was facing some licence issue with Microsoft Office. I am assuming that the leftover residual files are causing a problem which were not cleaned during uninstall & reinstall procedure. Please let me know if you have the solution