Can Access 97 Open 2000, XP, 2003 mdb Files?

[John Smith]

Hello all:

My Uncle has a computer w/Access 97 and he is receiving files in a
course he is taking that are created in Office XP and getting an error
stating Unrecognized File Format. Is this normal? Is there any way to
open the mdbs?

Thanks.

 

[John Vinson]

Hello all:

My Uncle has a computer w/Access 97 and he is receiving files in a
course he is taking that are created in Office XP and getting an error
stating Unrecognized File Format. Is this normal?

Yes. Access97 was written before the format for AccessXP/2003 was
designed, and as such, is not able to open them.

Is there any way to
open the mdbs?

The person sending them will have to use Tools... Convert to export
the database into Access97 format. Or your uncle will need to upgrade.

John W. Vinson[MVP]