OLE DB provider "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0" for linked server "Linked_Server_Name" returned message "Could not find installable ISAM.". Msg 7303, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0" for linked server "Linked_Server_Name".

The knowledgebase at support.microsoft.com indicates this error can be the result of missing files or wrong filepaths in the Windows registry, etc. Check out suggested fixes here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283881/en-gb

However, I have also experienced that you will also get this error if your @provstr= for the Linked_Server_Name is set to "Excel 97 workbook" instead of "Excel 8.0"

For Example:

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'Your_Linked_Server_Name', @srvproduct=N'Excel', @provider=N'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0', @datasrc=N'C:\MortgagesDatabase\MortgageProduct.xls', @provstr=N'Excel 97 workbook'

instead of:

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'Your_Linked_Server_Name', @srvproduct=N'Excel', @provider=N'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0', @datasrc=N'C:\MortgagesDatabase\MortgageProduct.xls', @provstr=N'Excel 8.0'