Is Microsoft Access 2007 supported on U3 compliant usb pens?

[pil]

I am an Access developer and own a retail copy of Microsoft Office 2007
Professional. For clients that have no copy of Access 2007, Micosoft provide
a free downloadable runtime with the posibility to run Access applications
but no access to Design Mode. For me as a developer (on a budget) without a
laptop, it would be great the U3 pendrive solution as I have to do the 2 way
home and back, to fix some minor client soft adjustments. With Access 2007 on
a U3 pen I can work in Design Mode on client computer, and leave no trace but
a good program in usefull time.

 

[Pete D.]

U'mmmm, no. As a developer surely you know that access must have registry
entries to do it's design create work. I would watch for a laptop being
discontinued and pick it up for a few hundred. Of course you could also
make your customer pay the right price to have you develope for them. They
could pay for your laptop or buy at least one copy of the full version.

 

[John W. Vinson]

I am an Access developer and own a retail copy of Microsoft Office 2007
Professional. For clients that have no copy of Access 2007, Micosoft provide
a free downloadable runtime with the posibility to run Access applications
but no access to Design Mode. For me as a developer (on a budget) without a
laptop, it would be great the U3 pendrive solution as I have to do the 2 way
home and back, to fix some minor client soft adjustments. With Access 2007 on
a U3 pen I can work in Design Mode on client computer, and leave no trace but
a good program in usefull time.

Do you have a question, Pil?

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

U'mmmm, no. As a developer surely you know that access must have registry
entries to do it's design create work. I would watch for a laptop being
discontinued and pick it up for a few hundred. Of course you could also
make your customer pay the right price to have you develope for them.
They could pay for your laptop or buy at least one copy of the full
version.

Actually, there is what we call software virtualizers that allows to take
any application on windows, install it to a device, and put your data along
with a device. The resulting product is a single .exe file that runs on your
pc. I can attest to the fact that this type of system does work with a
access, and will not interfere with even existing versions of access on the
target computer, and furthermore the target computer does not even need the
runtime to be installed, this is true saw for virtualization at the
application level, not at the machine level.

This technology does in fact allow you to actually distribute your whole
application on any computer without any install having to occur, and it will
run work is completely isolated from any other version of software on the
machine, including MS access previous versions.

simply do a quick Internet search on the term thinstall

or go here:

http://www.thinstall.com/

As for USB key with u3 compliant software, I don't know if it works with
ms-access. I spend a few minutes checking out and see what comes up....

If the cost of software virtualizers would come down to a reasonable price
than I think access developers could use such technology. Right now, they
are about $50 per copy, or about $5000 for a unlimited one. So, if one wants
to, we do have a new and interesting and exciting way to deploy access
applications without any affect on the target machine (even if previous
versions of access are installed) This technology allows to run software as
a true exec file and zero install occurs.

As a developer most use virtual PC on a daily basis and can't live without
it. Software virtualizers is kind of a new twiest in which the whole pc is
not virtualized, but only the registry and other parts of windows that the
one application needs are virtualized. The result is for the most part you
get native pc performance in this environment, and don't have a penalty of a
virtualized operating system.

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Of course another solution would be for you to simply make your changes
to the front end and simply email them a new front end.

If you really are an access developer, then one of the first things you done
is split your database into two parts.

I updated lots of clients access applications for who's location and site I
NEVER been to....

So one solution is simply make the changes to the application you need, and
then send them a new front end and you're done.

I explain the concept of splitting here
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/split/index.htm

Now that we have the above out of the way, your question is a great one and
the answers I really don't really know. In the past software virtualizers
for windows used to cost about $5,000.00 for one license.

I not tried to place access into u3, but I think it is worth a try.

For single users of an application, deploying the runtime to a u3 drive
would also be a way to package your application without interfering with the
existing our previous versions of access on the person's machine.

And for developers who constantly switch between 2003 and 2007, placing one
them on a u3 drive would elimonate that long tedious switchover process.

In fact to support clients of different versions, and the case that you MUST
be on site, you can always bring along a 2003, or 2007 u3 drive to trouble
shoot and do work on site. (have both for use at home and on the road).

It's a fairly new technology and the answers is I don't know of access will
work or not.

You could perhaps try it since things like browsers and other applications
seem to function just fine via u3.....

 

[Tom van Stiphout]

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:26:43 -0700, "Albert D. Kallal"

I went to that URL and clicked the BuyNow button. Are you KIDDING me?

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

http://www.thinstall.com/

<clip>

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:26:43 -0700, "Albert D. Kallal"

I went to that URL and clicked the BuyNow button. Are you KIDDING me?

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

It is expensive. About $180 per copy of a deployment, or as I said..I think
there is a $5000 license you can buy!

(sage keys at under $400 for a one time purchase seems quite reasonable
now...don't it!!!).

The poster asked about the u3 system on a usb. The u3 usb key drive MIGHT
work for ms-access. There is official ms support for u3 (I think). And, I
quite sure that u3 is free/included for the price of the usb key drive.

So, while thinstaill is too high priced for us small guys for large
institutions or large numbers of installs, it is a ideal solution. For
example some of those usb phone systems or internet systems will self
install when you plug in the usb thing is a perfect application (for large
numbers of users).

I still think the u3 usb drive thing has some possible uses for access if it
works (and the price seems right).

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

I went to that URL and clicked the BuyNow button. Are you KIDDING me?

Ayup. And what the situation for folks to download a free demo of my
app. Not likely.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[David W. Fenton]

I would watch for a laptop being
discontinued and pick it up for a few hundred.

Anybody looking at the new netbooks? They are very attractively
priced, and very, very light. I don't need a new laptop, nor do I
have $400 lying around to spend on it, but it sure does look
attractive to me as something to carry around with me that won't
cause my left shoulder (the one I carry my bag on) to end up
permanently 6" lower than my right.

 

[David W. Fenton]

As for USB key with u3 compliant software, I don't know if it
works with ms-access. I spend a few minutes checking out and see
what comes up....

I thought everybody instantly googled "how to uninstall U3" the
minute they opened the package for their new USB drive, and
immediately followed the instructions there.

U3 is a solution looking for a problem.

 

[David W. Fenton]

As a developer most use virtual PC on a daily basis and can't live
without it.

Most? Maybe non-Access developers, but I strongly doubt most Access
developers (or even 10% of them) are using VMs on a daily basis.
Yes, it can be very useful for testing on various versions of
Windows/Access without having multiple machines, but most of us
don't have to deploy our apps on different versions of Windows (or
on different versions of Access that we don't already own).

It's a technology I expect to be using within the next 5 years, but
so far it's not offering me anything I need on a daily basis.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

As a developer most use virtual PC on a daily basis and can't live without
it.

I only use Virtual PCs when testing my downloadable app just before
putting a new version on my website. I also want to ensure it will
cleanly run as a runtime and on older and newer OSs than I'm running.

And for custom apps I create for others I just send them the FE/BE
MDB/MDE. I don't bother testing those in any other environment.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/