Why does my data source have an asterisk next to it?

The data source is from an earlier version of Microsoft Query Query 97 and later data sources have a different format from data sources that were created with earlier versions of Query. Data sources and queries that were created with versions earlier than Query 97 can still be used with later versions of Query, but queries that are created by using these data sources cannot be shared with other users. Versions earlier than Query 97 store data source information as part of your Microsoft Windows operating system, and that information is available only on your system.

Identify nonshareable data sources To use data sources that were created by using earlier versions of Query, click Options in the Choose Data Source dialog box (File menu, New command), and then select the Include registry DSNs in list of available databases check box. All data sources that were created by using a version earlier than Query 97 will appear in the Choose Data Source dialog box with asterisks next to their names.

Create shareable data sources If you want to share queries or report templates that use data from the external databases that are specified in your nonshareable data sources, create new data sources for these databases, and use the new data sources to create the queries, query files, and report templates.

Delete the old data sources How to delete nonshareable data sources.