First and foremost, if you're using Office 2010, Paradox support has been removed (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179181.aspx). You'll need Access 2007 or earlier.
If you're reading this, then you've probably run in to a cryptic error message and/or inconsistent Paradox functionality with the aforementioned products. The most common error message being: "External Table not in Expected Format"
Here are two of the most common resolutions:
- You probably NEED BDE (Borland Database Engine), available here. I know there are articles that talk about it working without BDE, but I’ve never seen it happen.
- You may have to copy the Paradox database files locally. There is sometimes an issue with accessing the files across a network path.
That’s it. Try it.
Good luck,
Craig