ACCESS 2000 linked Tables

[Guest]

Hello All,

I have run into a problem that I can't seem to resolve or even track very
well for that matter. I have a cleint who is set up on a FrontEnd/Backend
ACCESS 2000 database. The data file is on one of the users PC in a shared
file. The backend is ACCESS 97 while all but one of the users has Frontends
of 2000. The database has been up and running for 4+ years just chugging
along when all of a sudden some of the users are receiving the following
error "unrecognized database format" which causes them to go out of the DB
and can't return. When I get out there the next day everything is back to
normal (although they say there are now ghost records in the DB). I am
pretty darn fluent in ACCESS and haven't seen anything like this. Is it the
network dropping the connection? Every user does indeed have their own FE on
their machine and they are all indeed pointing to the same BE on this one PC.
I'd just assume have the backend on a file server but don't want to involve
the convoluted IT department out there get involved. Any info would be
helpful.

Thanks-

M Man

"

 

[Guest]

The message "unrecognized database format" is most often a symptom of
database corruption.

There are a number of things that you can do to help keep corruption at bay,
but from what you describe there are a number is factors in your
configuration that wouldn't be considered "best practices."

First of all, sharing a backend over a peer-to-peer setup is do-able, but
it's not very stable and introduces a major risk of interrupted writes to the
database, which is the primary cause of corruption.

In addition, Access 97 uses Jet 3.5, while Access 2000 uses Jet 4.0. These
mixed versions can also cause a problem.

Neither of these issues are big no-nos in and of themselves, but they do
increase the risk of corruption significantly, and so increase the importance
of being vigilent in maintenance. I would recommend that you review the
following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

How to keep a Jet 4.0 database in top working condition in Access 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;300216
(Take special note of the section titled "Use a Robust File Server"

How to troubleshoot corruption in a Microsoft Access database
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306204&Product=acc

Hope that helps!

DBS (David Staas)