disabling Access 03 functions to make 97 database work

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

HELP!!!! My company has a database that was created in Access 97. However,
they recently upgraded me to XP. I can access some of the database, but not
all. The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are. Can
anyone tell me? I cannot do any billing because of this and it's causing me
issues, because I need reports that I can't print off.
 
First, did you get upgraded to XP or Office 2003? You stated XP, but you also mention "Access
03". Office XP includes Access 2002, not the newly renamed "Microsoft Office Access 2003".

Second, you are going to have to be a bit more specific about which parts of the database that
you cannot access. If this is a shared multi-user database, then by all means it needs to be
split into a FE (front-end) and BE (back-end) databases. Each user should have a copy of the FE
database on their local hard drive, so that the FE is never shared. The BE, which contains tables
only with the shared data, is put on the file server. The BE needs to remain as an Access 97
database.

The FE database should be checked for any compile errors in Access 97 first. Correct any errors
that are found. Then convert a copy to the Access 2000 format. You'll need to use this copy to
make any changes to the FE. However, in order to distribute your changes to other users, you'll
need to convert back to the Access 97 format first. Also, you'll need to make sure to not use any
new functionality introduced after Access 97. There are various conversion issues that can arise,
including missing references.
The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are.

It sounds like your IT support people really don't know much about Access, so I'd take anything
they said with a grain of salt.

Without more specific information, it is difficult at best to determine what is causing a problem
for you.


Tom
_______________________________


HELP!!!! My company has a database that was created in Access 97. However,
they recently upgraded me to XP. I can access some of the database, but not
all. The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are. Can
anyone tell me? I cannot do any billing because of this and it's causing me
issues, because I need reports that I can't print off.
 
They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03 . . . My computer
is called the nightmare of the IT Dept, (which by the way is 2 states away).
When they sit down at it, I hear things like "THIS IS A DISASTER! okay,
when the corporate office sends me what we commonly refer to as "the
database", I save it to my hard drive and go into our database program which
was built in Access 97. I can view information such as client names, but not
reports,(NO REPORTS in fact!) events, or anything like that or current
billing status. Whenever I click on a report button, I get "RUN TIME ERROR
20507, INVALID FILE NAME." Sometimes I can see more info in our client file,
but the font is pale gray and virtually unreadable.
 
Hi KaT,

Your first two sentences contain a contradiction:

"They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03."

To repeat, Office XP is *not* the same as Office 03. So, the question remains--which version of
Access are you running? With Access open, click on Help > About Microsoft Access. The version
of Access should be displayed at the top of the resulting dialog.

when the corporate office sends me what we commonly refer
to as "the database", I save it to my hard drive....

Does this file include the .mdb file extension? I assume it does, since you are using Access to
open it, but let's rule the possibility out that you are dealing with some other application.
Open Windows Explorer (use the Windows key that you likely have on your keyboard + the E key,
pressed simultaneously). You may need to configure Windows Explorer to show file extension.
Click on Tools > Folder Options... Then select the View tab. Remove a check, if present, from
the option that reads "Hide file extensions for known file types". This setting is usually
checked by default.

Side note: In my opinion, this is one of the most stupid settings that the Windows group in
Redmond could choose as a default setting. But I best stop my ranting there, since there seems to
be a lot of default settings, in various Microsoft programs, that are anything but logical!

Is there any chance that your database includes a switchboard manager built switchboard, and that
you are receiving this obscure error message when attempting to open a report from such a
switchboard? I have seen totally non-descript error messages result when an object, such as a
report, does not open properly when activated using such a switchboard. If you are using a
switchboard, can you gain access to the database window instead (try opening the database with
the Shift key held down while opening it or try using the F11 key). Can you run the reports
directly, when accessed via the database window (ie. not via a switchboard)?

I have never heard of Run time error 20507. I haven't found anything on Microsoft's web site
regarding this error number. I did find one posting, using an advanced groups search at Google
(Search includes: with all of the words: error 20507 and Return only messages from the group:
*access*)

http://groups-beta.google.com/group...e_frm/thread/fc6df3424144731/b4c30dcb1a06121c

Whatever this error really means, it appears to be truly rare, as only you and someone named
Doreen Birkholz have posted it so far.

Tom
__________________________________


They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03 . . . My computer
is called the nightmare of the IT Dept, (which by the way is 2 states away).
When they sit down at it, I hear things like "THIS IS A DISASTER! okay,
when the corporate office sends me what we commonly refer to as "the
database", I save it to my hard drive and go into our database program which
was built in Access 97. I can view information such as client names, but not
reports,(NO REPORTS in fact!) events, or anything like that or current
billing status. Whenever I click on a report button, I get "RUN TIME ERROR
20507, INVALID FILE NAME." Sometimes I can see more info in our client file,
but the font is pale gray and virtually unreadable.

__________________________________


First, did you get upgraded to XP or Office 2003? You stated XP, but you also mention "Access
03". Office XP includes Access 2002, not the newly renamed "Microsoft Office Access 2003".

Second, you are going to have to be a bit more specific about which parts of the database that
you cannot access. If this is a shared multi-user database, then by all means it needs to be
split into a FE (front-end) and BE (back-end) databases. Each user should have a copy of the FE
database on their local hard drive, so that the FE is never shared. The BE, which contains tables
only with the shared data, is put on the file server. The BE needs to remain as an Access 97
database.

The FE database should be checked for any compile errors in Access 97 first. Correct any errors
that are found. Then convert a copy to the Access 2000 format. You'll need to use this copy to
make any changes to the FE. However, in order to distribute your changes to other users, you'll
need to convert back to the Access 97 format first. Also, you'll need to make sure to not use any
new functionality introduced after Access 97. There are various conversion issues that can arise,
including missing references.
The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are.

It sounds like your IT support people really don't know much about Access, so I'd take anything
they said with a grain of salt.

Without more specific information, it is difficult at best to determine what is causing a problem
for you.


Tom
_______________________________


HELP!!!! My company has a database that was created in Access 97. However,
they recently upgraded me to XP. I can access some of the database, but not
all. The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are. Can
anyone tell me? I cannot do any billing because of this and it's causing me
issues, because I need reports that I can't print off.
 
Error 20507 appears to be a Crystal Reports error. Are you sure you are not running a Visual
Basic application that just happens to use a JET database to store the data? If so, your
question should not be posted to an Access newsgroup.

Error: '20525 - Cannot load report' or ' 20507 Invalid file name'
http://support.businessobjects.com/library/kbase/articles/c2006302.asp


Tom
_________________________________


Hi KaT,

Your first two sentences contain a contradiction:

"They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03."

To repeat, Office XP is *not* the same as Office 03. So, the question remains--which version of
Access are you running? With Access open, click on Help > About Microsoft Access. The version
of Access should be displayed at the top of the resulting dialog.

when the corporate office sends me what we commonly refer
to as "the database", I save it to my hard drive....

Does this file include the .mdb file extension? I assume it does, since you are using Access to
open it, but let's rule the possibility out that you are dealing with some other application.
Open Windows Explorer (use the Windows key that you likely have on your keyboard + the E key,
pressed simultaneously). You may need to configure Windows Explorer to show file extension.
Click on Tools > Folder Options... Then select the View tab. Remove a check, if present, from
the option that reads "Hide file extensions for known file types". This setting is usually
checked by default.

Side note: In my opinion, this is one of the most stupid settings that the Windows group in
Redmond could choose as a default setting. But I best stop my ranting there, since there seems to
be a lot of default settings, in various Microsoft programs, that are anything but logical!

Is there any chance that your database includes a switchboard manager built switchboard, and that
you are receiving this obscure error message when attempting to open a report from such a
switchboard? I have seen totally non-descript error messages result when an object, such as a
report, does not open properly when activated using such a switchboard. If you are using a
switchboard, can you gain access to the database window instead (try opening the database with
the Shift key held down while opening it or try using the F11 key). Can you run the reports
directly, when accessed via the database window (ie. not via a switchboard)?

I have never heard of Run time error 20507. I haven't found anything on Microsoft's web site
regarding this error number. I did find one posting, using an advanced groups search at Google
(Search includes: with all of the words: error 20507 and Return only messages from the group:
*access*)

http://groups-beta.google.com/group...e_frm/thread/fc6df3424144731/b4c30dcb1a06121c

Whatever this error really means, it appears to be truly rare, as only you and someone named
Doreen Birkholz have posted it so far.

Tom
__________________________________


They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03 . . . My computer
is called the nightmare of the IT Dept, (which by the way is 2 states away).
When they sit down at it, I hear things like "THIS IS A DISASTER! okay,
when the corporate office sends me what we commonly refer to as "the
database", I save it to my hard drive and go into our database program which
was built in Access 97. I can view information such as client names, but not
reports,(NO REPORTS in fact!) events, or anything like that or current
billing status. Whenever I click on a report button, I get "RUN TIME ERROR
20507, INVALID FILE NAME." Sometimes I can see more info in our client file,
but the font is pale gray and virtually unreadable.

__________________________________


First, did you get upgraded to XP or Office 2003? You stated XP, but you also mention "Access
03". Office XP includes Access 2002, not the newly renamed "Microsoft Office Access 2003".

Second, you are going to have to be a bit more specific about which parts of the database that
you cannot access. If this is a shared multi-user database, then by all means it needs to be
split into a FE (front-end) and BE (back-end) databases. Each user should have a copy of the FE
database on their local hard drive, so that the FE is never shared. The BE, which contains tables
only with the shared data, is put on the file server. The BE needs to remain as an Access 97
database.

The FE database should be checked for any compile errors in Access 97 first. Correct any errors
that are found. Then convert a copy to the Access 2000 format. You'll need to use this copy to
make any changes to the FE. However, in order to distribute your changes to other users, you'll
need to convert back to the Access 97 format first. Also, you'll need to make sure to not use any
new functionality introduced after Access 97. There are various conversion issues that can arise,
including missing references.
The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are.

It sounds like your IT support people really don't know much about Access, so I'd take anything
they said with a grain of salt.

Without more specific information, it is difficult at best to determine what is causing a problem
for you.


Tom
_______________________________


HELP!!!! My company has a database that was created in Access 97. However,
they recently upgraded me to XP. I can access some of the database, but not
all. The IT dept is telling me that it can be fixed by disabling 3 or 4
features of Access 03, but they don't know what functions they are. Can
anyone tell me? I cannot do any billing because of this and it's causing me
issues, because I need reports that I can't print off.
 
They upgraded if to Office XP. It's definitely Office 03 . . .

Could it be that you are confusing Windows XP with Office XP? In other words, your operating
system was upgraded to Windows XP (Professional?), while your Office suite was upgraded to Office
2003. Just a guess. You can confirm the operating system by clicking on Start > Run, and typing
in the command WINVER and then clicking on OK. As I mentioned earlier, you can confirm the
version of Access by starting Access, and then clicking on Help > About Microsoft Access. Copy
down the information returned in these two dialogs and let us know what the results.
okay, when the corporate office sends me what we commonly
refer to as "the database", I save it to my hard drive and....

As the person who sent you the message exactly how many files they attached to the message.
Compare this file count with the number of files you saved to disk. It could be that one or more
critical files is getting blocked by Microsoft's lovely new features for protecting users against
"dangerous" attachments.

Thanks goes to Access MVP Dirk Goldgar for providing these suggestions to me.

Tom
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Back
Top