Using Microsoft Access with Java without the JdbcOdbc default bridge

we have to use in our project some legacy Microsoft Access 97/2000 databases with Java. The problem is: we face many problems with the default JdbcOdbc driver which is available on the JDK (memory leaks are the most common issue).

So here is my question: is there any other JDBC Driver we could use (open source whould be great) to achieve this task?

This seems to be the alternative: http://www.csv-jdbc.com/stels_mdb_jdbc.htm

HXTT and StelsMDB seems to be the most "famous" providers of type 4 JDBC driver for MS Access. The first one supports version from 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2002, to 2003 (and thus meets your requirements). The other one supports MS Access 2000, 2002, 2003, XP.

Easysoft is another alternative but is a JDBC type 3 driver (i.e. a bridge type).

All are commercial products.