Darned System.mdw again!

[nickmik]

I did a normal install of MS office 2003 pro (for home use).

I tried to use Access for 1st time yesterday and I get the dreaded
System.mdw not found. I have searched all my hard drives, it is not
there!

I have logged off and logged in as another admin user but still no
System.MDW!

I do not want to do an Uninstall/Re-install of Office cos I will lose
my Outlook accounts and settings(unless there is a way to save them).

Someone help me out please. This is driving me to distraction.

 

[TC]

It's hard to imagine that you would not get system.mdw, with a proper
installation of Access.

What is the exact text of the message you're getting?

Are you trying this from the same windows user account that you
installed it from?

TC

 

[nickmik]

Same user account!

Funny thing is, I also installed it on my laptop and I got a system.mdw
there, but I cannot seem to copy it over to my desktop. It will copy
and databases will open but when trying to look at a normally available
to all - table, I get an error that states 'Unknown'.

I have also installed right up to Office sp2.

Thanks for the help.

 

[TC]

The system.mdw from your laptop should do for creating new databases
(if it is the same version of Access).

What is the exact text of the message you're getting? Not just
"Unknown", surely?

HTH,
TC

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

It seems as though you have a corrupted installation. Copying an unsecured
system.mdw should be all that's necessary. Obviously, in your case it's not.
Instead of an uninstall/reinstall, try a repair. When you load the CD up, it
will give you the choice of a repair. Make sure that you select "Run all
from my computer" for everything, to make sure you get the full
installation.

If that doesn't work, you'll need to bite the bullet and an uninstall ...
reboot ... registry cleaner ... reboot, then reinstall would be in order.
Before you do any of that though, make sure that your machine is absolutely
clear of any malware. I like to do my installs totally disconnected from the
Internet, and make sure that I have a firewall and an anti-virus prgram
running when I connect.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access

 

[nickmik]

Repair already done. Error when opening unsecured table withh the
system.mdw copied from my lapyop is indeed "UNKNOWN".

Cannot remember exact error message but was something like could not
find system.mdw in my app setting....... access folder. I already did a
search over my whole disk and there is no system.mdw anywhere, that's
why I copied it from my laptop.

Here's another one for you, with the system.mdw copied over and Access
finds it, any time I try to open a previous DB, I get the "Cannot open
Database created with a previous version of your application", and
repair or upgrade just gives the same message.

Am working on Access on the laptop now anyway, have given up on the
Desktop Access.

So. I am going to bit the bullet and uninstall Office 2k3. I am trying
out some Outlook backup proggies at the mo but they are all shareware
and need registered(bought0, which for a one of that I am going to do
is not worth the money. Just have to write down all my settings
including the pst files!

Bugger, what a nightmare!

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Occasionally, folks get caught up in playing with security without making
proper backups. Is it possible that another user was messing with your
machine and tried securing a file? If that may have happened, try looking
for any file on your machine with the extension .mdw. If you find one, make
a copy of that file and rename it to system.mdw.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access

 

[TC]

The following google groups search might shed some light on the "cannot
open" message:

"cannot open database" "previous version" group:*access*

HTH,
TC