WARNING: Do not use Vista for multiple versions of Access!

[Rick Brandt]

If you develop for others, you probably have multiple versions of
Access installed so you can edit and create MDEs for clients in
different versions. This works fine under Windows XP, even with
Access 2007 installed.
It does *not* work under Windows Vista Ultimate. After running Access
2007, when you open an earlier version of Access, no code works,
because the references are fouled up. And Access 97 does not work at
all.
Access should adapt the Access library according to the version of
Access you are using. Under Vista, this doesn't happen, so Access
2003, 2002, or 2000 attempt to use the Microsoft Access 12.0 library.
Naturally enough, that fails. You cannot just uncheck the bad library
and choose the correct one, since it is a required library.

You can "repair" your Access install, which works until you run
Access 2007 again. Office already does a lengthy reinstallation
whenever you switch versions, so this is not a practical solution.

I've experienced this on Vista Ultimate, and the same was true of the
user who raised this in microsoft.public.access.formscoding. In
cannot say if it applies to other versions of Vista, but since the
problem appears be be the interaction between Office and the Vista
registry, I don't see a reason why it would be limited to Ultimate.

If there does turn out to be a simple solution for this, hopefully we
will hear soon. In the mean time, stay with Win XP if you use
multiple versions of Access.

Thanks for the heads-up Allen. Just to clarify though...are you saying that
even if Access 97 is the only version installed it will not work under Vista or
just that it cannot be repaired after running Access 2007 like the others can?

 

[Allen Browne]

If you develop for others, you probably have multiple versions of Access
installed so you can edit and create MDEs for clients in different versions.
This works fine under Windows XP, even with Access 2007 installed.

It does *not* work under Windows Vista Ultimate. After running Access 2007,
when you open an earlier version of Access, no code works, because the
references are fouled up. And Access 97 does not work at all.

Access should adapt the Access library according to the version of Access
you are using. Under Vista, this doesn't happen, so Access 2003, 2002, or
2000 attempt to use the Microsoft Access 12.0 library. Naturally enough,
that fails. You cannot just uncheck the bad library and choose the correct
one, since it is a required library.

You can "repair" your Access install, which works until you run Access 2007
again. Office already does a lengthy reinstallation whenever you switch
versions, so this is not a practical solution.

I've experienced this on Vista Ultimate, and the same was true of the user
who raised this in microsoft.public.access.formscoding. In cannot say if it
applies to other versions of Vista, but since the problem appears be be the
interaction between Office and the Vista registry, I don't see a reason why
it would be limited to Ultimate.

If there does turn out to be a simple solution for this, hopefully we will
hear soon. In the mean time, stay with Win XP if you use multiple versions
of Access.

 

[Allen Browne]

You can get Access 97 working again by installing it again.

But unless you reinstall it again each time you need to use it, it fails to
start with the dialog:
Microsoft Access can't be started.
Microsoft Access was unable to initialize the Windows Registry
Rerun Microsoft Access or Microsoft Office Setup to reinstall Microsoft
Access.

At this stage, I think my best option is to blow away the Vista install and
start over with WinXP. (I don't think I want to set up virtual machines to
handle the previous versions.)

 

[Darryl Kerkeslager]

On a scale of 1-10, this sounds like a really bad problem.

 

[DMeister]

Does anyone have experience with an independent runtime install (e.g.,
Sagekey) of 97 or 2000 and Access 2007?

On a scale of 1-10, this sounds like a really bad problem.

--
Darryl Kerkeslager

It does *not* work under Windows Vista Ultimate. After running Access
2007, when you open an earlier version of Access, no code works, because
the references are fouled up. And Access 97 does not work at all.

[cut]

You can "repair" your Access install, which works until you run Access
2007 again. Office already does a lengthy reinstallation whenever you
switch versions, so this is not a practical solution.

[cut]

If there does turn out to be a simple solution for this, hopefully we will
hear soon. In the mean time, stay with Win XP if you use multiple versions
of Access.

 

[John Vinson]

If you develop for others, you probably have multiple versions of Access
installed so you can edit and create MDEs for clients in different versions.
This works fine under Windows XP, even with Access 2007 installed.

It does *not* work under Windows Vista Ultimate.

YOW.

Thanks, Allen. I've never been an "early adopter" and this warning
reinforces that prejudice!

John W. Vinson[MVP]

 

[Lynn Trapp]

On a scale of 1-10, this sounds like a really bad problem.
On a scale of 1 - 10, I would say this is about a 15. <g>

 

[Steve Schapel]

DMeister,

AFAIK, Sagekey do not yet have a runtime installation script for Access
2007.

 

[David W. Fenton]

I've experienced this on Vista Ultimate, and the same was true of
the user who raised this in microsoft.public.access.formscoding.
In cannot say if it applies to other versions of Vista, but since
the problem appears be be the interaction between Office and the
Vista registry, I don't see a reason why it would be limited to
Ultimate.

Is the registry change being made in HKLM or on HKCU? If the latter,
then you could run different versions on different user logons.

But I'm not otpimistic about that.

 

[David W. Fenton]

You can get Access 97 working again by installing it again.

But unless you reinstall it again each time you need to use it, it
fails to start with the dialog:
Microsoft Access can't be started.
Microsoft Access was unable to initialize the Windows Registry
Rerun Microsoft Access or Microsoft Office Setup to reinstall
Microsoft
Access.

Doesn't A97 have to run under an administrative logon, or have the
registry permissions tweaked to allow it to write to them? Is it not
the case that Vista locks down the registry even more than Win2K and
WinXP, and that this will cause issues with A97 if all you do is
install it with default settings?

Would it be possible to protect certain registry keys from change so
that A2K7 couldn't do this?

Or could you export the correct registry keys, then re-import them
after A2K7 changes them? You could then use a batch file to launch
other versions of Access that would repair the registry before the
app runs.

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Doesn't A97 have to run under an administrative logon, or have the

registry permissions tweaked to allow it to write to them? Is it not
the case that Vista locks down the registry even more than Win2K and
WinXP, and that this will cause issues with A97 if all you do is
install it with default settings?

Would it be possible to protect certain registry keys from change so
that A2K7 couldn't do this?

Or could you export the correct registry keys, then re-import them
after A2K7 changes them? You could then use a batch file to launch
other versions of Access that would repair the registry before the
app runs.

You right on the money. Apparently, people have said that if you "right
click" on the desktop shortcut,and choose "run with admin" permissions, all
versions can work together on vista.

So, you hit the nail here...it really is a permissions issue.

Apparently Allen is running as a admin logged on in this case, but this is
not necessary enough..and you STILL have to tell the system that the
shortcut is to be run with admin permissions (this is news to me...but,
apparently just being logged on as a admin is not necessary enough).

So far, it seems all versions can work if you "run" those shortcuts with
admin permissions. I not yet confirmed this, but another poster in the
private NG has stated this works (that "running" the shortcut(s) to
ms-access with admin permissions solves this).

 

[David W. Fenton]

You right on the money. Apparently, people have said that if you
"right click" on the desktop shortcut,and choose "run with admin"
permissions, all versions can work together on vista.

So, you hit the nail here...it really is a permissions issue.

Apparently Allen is running as a admin logged on in this case, but
this is not necessary enough..and you STILL have to tell the
system that the shortcut is to be run with admin permissions (this
is news to me...but, apparently just being logged on as a admin is
not necessary enough).

Vista changes the whole way permissions are handled. You can run as
administrator, but most processes launch only with user-level
permissions. The idea is that you then determine which tasks you
want to use the full admin permissions.

This makes it possible to run with an admin logon more safely, but
it just seems confusing and stupid to me!

 

[Allen Browne]

Okay, thanks to David, John, and others, for explaining the problem.

So the workaround is:

1. Delete any shortcuts created by the installation of each version.
These shortcuts do not have the "Run As Administrator" option.
Instead, create shortcuts to each msaccess.exe.

2. To run any version, right-click the shortcut and Run As Admin.
Choose Allow in the UAC (User Account Control) dialog.
Wait while that version installs.

3. If you accidentally double-clicked a shortcut so the version started
without admin priviliges, the libraries are wrong. Close and Run as Admin is
not enough. Since the version was running last, Vista doesn't see the need
to reinstall it. The process is:
a) Close it.
b) Run another version As Admin (so the wrong version installs.)
c) Close it.
d) Run As Admin the version you wanted to run in the first place.

4. With Access 2007, it's not necessary to Run As Admin.

To avoid the issues in #3 above, there must be a way to create a
script/batch shortcut that will Run As Admin. Suggestions?

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, Allen.

there must be a way to create a
script/batch shortcut that will Run As Admin. Suggestions?

I've never done this in Windows, but a search revealed these for example syntax:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.scripting.wsh/msg/37a5ce3726180cc1?hl=en&

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.scripting.vbscript/msg/1eee29e6842c4ca1?hl=en&

The following tools to automate "run as" aren't certified to run in Vista yet,
but since they're free, the cost ain't too high to try 'em out:

http://www.joeware.net/win/free/tools/cpau.htm

http://www.hiddensoft.com/AutoIt/ (This link is really slow tonight.)

HTH.
Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact info.

 

[Allen Browne]

Okay, Peter Doering and the German MVPs have suggested this workaround:

a) Use an Adminstrator account in Vista.
b) Turn off User Access Control (UAC.) Go to:
Control Panel | User Accounts | Turn User Account Control on or Off.

This gives you the same results as running multiple versions under Win XP or
earlier.

Of course, that's not likely to be permitted if you are part of a team in a
corporate environment, but if you are SOHO or part of a small team, you can
probably get away with it - at we least until there is a better solution.

Thanks for the links, Gunny. Might help someone to find an alternative
workaround for other environments.

--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia

Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.


message

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, Allen.

Thanks for sharing this work-around. Many of us will be using it when we start
using Vista, because one version of Access is never enough.

Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact info.

 

[aaron.kempf]

can't you just put a shortcut to each version of MS Access into the
sendto directory.. and then right-click SENDTO the appropriate version
of MS Access?

I mean seriously?

The sendto method was always preferred for doing this in 2000, XP so
why don't you bother testing this method before starting a big freakout
session?

-Aaron

 

[aaron.kempf]

hey DMeister.. did you used to be on IRC? ever talk to a guy named
Humboldt?

I would love to chat sometime

I've been really really interested in chatting with you for a while now


-Aaron
(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)

Does anyone have experience with an independent runtime install (e.g.,
Sagekey) of 97 or 2000 and Access 2007?

On a scale of 1-10, this sounds like a really bad problem.

--
Darryl Kerkeslager

It does *not* work under Windows Vista Ultimate. After running Access
2007, when you open an earlier version of Access, no code works, because
the references are fouled up. And Access 97 does not work at all.

[cut]

You can "repair" your Access install, which works until you run Access
2007 again. Office already does a lengthy reinstallation whenever you
switch versions, so this is not a practical solution.

[cut]

If there does turn out to be a simple solution for this, hopefully we will
hear soon. In the mean time, stay with Win XP if you use multiple versions
of Access.

 

[aaron.kempf]

one version for MS Access _IS_ enough.

just use Access Data Projects and your life would be a lot simpler

-Aaron

 

[deluxeinformation]

I have yet to get even Access XP and Access 2003 to live in harmony on
the same XP machine, let alone Vista. I have gotten it to work
temporarily but as soon as I install service packs to get everything up
to date the dreaded Windows Installer is awakened whenever I switch
between versions. I've followed the appropriate Microsoft scriptures
regarding this and scoured the web for other solutions to no avail.
Are you saying you've gotten this to work and can switch between
versions without the Windows installer being invoked?

Bruce