The 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. (System.Data)

I am on an XP Pro 32-bit laptop, running SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition. I want to import an Excel spreadsheet into one of my databases using (formerly known as) DTS. The Excel spreadsheet was created in 2003 (I have Office 2007 installed on this laptop). Whenever I try and do any OleDb import, I get the error:

TITLE: SQL Server Import and Export Wizard
------------------------------

The operation could not be completed.

------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. (System.Data)

------------------------------
BUTTONS:

OK
------------------------------

I cannot install/reinstall MDAC because I have the latest version. What else can I try

As additional information, I also get the error when trying to import anything into or export anything out of Access 2007. I'm pretty sure MDAC is awful, but I still need OleDb providers for much of the work I am doing.

I do not control the connection strings of SQL Server, they are controlled by the application. If their connection strings are wrong, Microsoft has some explaining to do and I want my money back for buying the developer edition.

If I right-click a database within the SQL Server 2005 Management Studio, go to Tasks, then Import Data, I will always get this error if I try and import an Excel spreadsheet or Access database. It's almost as if the OleDb providers aren't installed. However, I can't reinstall them because MDAC 2.8 is already a part of XP Pro by default.

I also can't register the DLLs. I get the following error:

LoadLibrary("c:\windows\system32\msjetoledb40.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found.

The file is there, it just does not want to be registered.

Luckily, this is just a one-time datafill. I opened the file with Excel, converted it to a Tab-delimited file, then imported it into SQL Server 2005. No problems there. I would really like to get this problem fixed, though. Any other suggestions

There is no option to download and install Jet drivers for XP Service Pack 2. I supposedly have the latest version already. Looking in my C:\Windows\system32 folder, I do not have the MSJET40.DLL or the MSWSTR10.DLL files.

I cannot register or unregister the msjetoledb40.dll file. I get an error 'LoadLibrary("c:\windows\system32\msjetoledb40.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found.'

How can I uninstall/reinstall or repair the Jet drivers

Following article talks about the Jet database engine installation: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239114 Basically, if your system is XP SP2, you should have MSJET40.DLL and msjetoledb40.dll on your system. If you could not find those files on your system, you could install WindowsXP-KB829558-x86-ENU.exe