Run-time97 doesn't work properly if Office2000 is installed.

[DeiviLozano]

Thank you for you attention,

I have detected some problems when I try to install an access9
Run-time application (previously made by Office Developer 97) whe
Office 2000 had been installed in the PC.

The displayed error is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------

"The selected database has been created with a precedent version o
Microsoft Access. It is possible to convert it or to open it but anyon
of these operations can last some minutes".

* Open the datebase
* Convert datebase
---------------------------------------------------------------------


If Access2000 have not been installed previously, there are no problem
Even the program works OK with windowsXP and without any Offic
version.
Can you help me to solve this problem?.

Thank you very much.

PD: Sorry, my english is not very good

 

[Rick Brandt]

Thank you for you attention,

I have detected some problems when I try to install an access97
Run-time application (previously made by Office Developer 97) when
Office 2000 had been installed in the PC.

The displayed error is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------

"The selected database has been created with a precedent version of
Microsoft Access. It is possible to convert it or to open it but anyone
of these operations can last some minutes".

There is a chance the Runtime was not even installed. The 97 Runtime setup
program tries to determine if the licensed version of Access 97 is already
on the computer. If it is, then the setup program will use the existing
Office folder and will only install the Access executable if the one
already on the PC is an older version.

On a computer where Office 2000 is installed "clean" the 97 Runtime setup
will do its job properly and will create a new Office folder for the 97
Runtime components. However; if the installation of Office 2000 on the
computer was an upgrade from Office 97 the Runtime setup will be fooled
into "thinking" that the PC already has Access 97 installed and will use
the existing Office folder. Since the Access executable for Access 2000 is
always a higher version, the 97 Runtime executable is not installed. The
result is the message you are getting. Windows is actually attempting to
open your file with the Access 2000 executable which makes the error
completely understandable.

There is a way to modify some of the runtime setup files to force the
installation of the 97 runtime. I believe there is a MS Knowledge Base
article that describes how to do this. Installation using an installer
like Wise or InstallShield along with custom scripts from Sagekey also
solve this problem (along with many others).

If you go with the Knowledge Base solution, be aware that when you have a
setup program that forces the installation of the Runtime, you only want to
use that on PCs where the licensed version of Access 97 does not exist or
else you will mess that up. Double-clicking Access files afterwards would
always want to use the Runtime. I always create two copies of the setup
program. One normal and one that forces the Runtime install and choose
whichever is appropriate for the target PC.