Access 2000 Stability

....or lack thereof...

I use Access 2000 which I own as part of Office 2000 Professional. I've had
enough trouble with glitches to ask if these are common occurrences -

1. Sometimes the "Help" system won't start. Sometimes it will. It starts
more often than not. I don't see any
pattern to when it does or doesn't. If the Access "help" won't start,
the Visual Basic "Help" usually won't
start either. This glitch has been going on for months.
2. I've been working on a form on and off for days now. This morning, I was
suddenly unable to view the code
behind the form. No prior warning, just no access to the code, and not
just that form. The code for other
forms is unavailable as well. Then, when I closed the .mdb, I got a
message telling me that Access had been
unable to compact the db when I closed it and that another copy had been
saved under a different, generic
name. This is a new glitch...and potentially a very dangerous one as
well.
3. When running code in response to an event, sometimes the VB editor does
not highlight the location of the
error...I mean nothing is highlighted. Not even a clue. This happened
this morning when the error message
was "Object required", but there wasn't a clue about the object.

Machine is a Toshiba laptop with XP Home. I've about 20 MB left on the hard
drive, 2.4 mhz processor and so forth. I've used Microsoft's facilities as
recently as Wednesday to check for Office 2000 updates and Windows XP
updates...I've applied all of them as far as I know. I also have problems
with
Outlook, but one of the MVP's that contributes to one of the Microsoft
Outlook groups sort of indicated that Outlook is full of problems like the
ones
I'm having, so I didn't think much of that. But I can't seem to fix Outlook,
either.

I have XP Office Developer which I can install if that's appropriate, but if
the problem is deeper than that, I don't just want to paper over it, so to
speak.

Any suggestions? Thank you in advance...


Steve E.

re: Access 2000 Stability

And, almost forgot...relationships don't all show in Relationship window,
and a currently non-existent table (which was deleted weeks ago) does show
in the Relationship window, but not in the database container. What in the
world...?

re: Access 2000 Stability

"Serious_Practitioner" <Serious_PractitionerNOSPAM@att.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>I use Access 2000 which I own as part of Office 2000 Professional. I've had
>enough trouble with glitches to ask if these are common occurrences -
>
>1. Sometimes the "Help" system won't start. Sometimes it will. It starts
>more often than not. I don't see any
> pattern to when it does or doesn't. If the Access "help" won't start,
>the Visual Basic "Help" usually won't
> start either. This glitch has been going on for months.
>2. I've been working on a form on and off for days now. This morning, I was
>suddenly unable to view the code
> behind the form. No prior warning, just no access to the code, and not
>just that form. The code for other
> forms is unavailable as well. Then, when I closed the .mdb, I got a
>message telling me that Access had been
> unable to compact the db when I closed it and that another copy had been
>saved under a different, generic
> name. This is a new glitch...and potentially a very dangerous one as
>well.
>3. When running code in response to an event, sometimes the VB editor does
>not highlight the location of the
> error...I mean nothing is highlighted. Not even a clue. This happened
>this morning when the error message
> was "Object required", but there wasn't a clue about the object.[/color]

I'd suggest doing a decompile and/or importing all the objects into a new MDB.

Decompile or how to reduce Microsoft Access MDB/MDE size and decrease start-up times
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/decompile.htm
[color=blue]
>Machine is a Toshiba laptop with XP Home.[/color]

Windows XP Themes cause lots of troubles. Try turning that off.
[color=blue]
>I've about 20 MB left on the hard
>drive,[/color]

20 Mb or 20 Gb? If it's 20 Mb you have more serious problems. <smile>
[color=blue]
>I've used Microsoft's facilities as
>recently as Wednesday to check for Office 2000 updates and Windows XP
>updates...[/color]

Ah, good. that's one of our basic questions.
[color=blue]
>I have XP Office Developer which I can install if that's appropriate, but if
>the problem is deeper than that, I don't just want to paper over it, so to
>speak.[/color]

No, because that means using A2002. I suspect you're using A2000 for a good reason
such as what is installed on client systems.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

re: Access 2000 Stability

"Tony Toews" wrote
[color=blue][color=green]
> > I have XP Office Developer which I
> > can install if that's appropriate, but if
> > the problem is deeper than that, I don't
> > just want to paper over it, so to
> > speak.[/color]
>
> No, because that means using A2002. I
> suspect you're using A2000 for a good reason
> such as what is installed on client systems.[/color]

You can develop in Access 2002 and save in Access 2000 file format (you
can't make an Access 2000 format MDE, though). I would be a good deal more
"comfortable" developing in Access 2002 with all 3 of its Service Packs than
developing in Access 2000 with all 3 of its Service Packs, particularly
since Access 2000 is now out of support.

If you are distributing to users who have Access 2000 installed, I'd keep a
copy of Access 2000 installed for my final testing, just in case. I am not
aware of any "issues" in this area, but I always am more confident if I have
tested in the version/release that will be used in production.

And, of course, using Office XP Developer, you can't package with an Access
2000 runtime, but if you are distributing with a runtime, that should not be
a drawback.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

re: Access 2000 Stability

Thanks to both Tony and Larry...I'm going to get at this later today.

Larry's note raises a question...I have read about a lot of software, Access
included, that has been offered in different versions over the years.
Frequestly, a user or reviewer will comment that one version is more stable
than another...I think I've seen that comment in this group as well. So the
question is - All other things being equal, is Access 2002 more stable than
2000? I can use either...and I'm sure that my inexperience shows in some of
my postings, so it won't come as a surprise when I say that I don't have
many finished projects out at client sites. My customers are a business I
own, a non-profit organization to which I belong, and a few small service
companies in my neighborhood. I can convert them when the time comes, and so
far, the work I've done seems to be doing OK.

And, if anyone knows of a good class or two in the Chicago area, I'd like to
hear about it...I've taken the classes that are available, but there don't
seem to be any real in-depth study programs around here. What I've learned,
I've learned by doing and by reading this group and asking questions.

Again, thank you all for your help.


Steve E.



"Larry Linson" <bouncer@localhost.not> wrote in message
news:kn%Oc.2589$UN2.249@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...[color=blue]
> "Tony Toews" wrote
>[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > I have XP Office Developer which I
> > > can install if that's appropriate, but if
> > > the problem is deeper than that, I don't
> > > just want to paper over it, so to
> > > speak.[/color]
> >
> > No, because that means using A2002. I
> > suspect you're using A2000 for a good reason
> > such as what is installed on client systems.[/color]
>
> You can develop in Access 2002 and save in Access 2000 file format (you
> can't make an Access 2000 format MDE, though). I would be a good deal more
> "comfortable" developing in Access 2002 with all 3 of its Service Packs[/color]
than[color=blue]
> developing in Access 2000 with all 3 of its Service Packs, particularly
> since Access 2000 is now out of support.
>
> If you are distributing to users who have Access 2000 installed, I'd keep[/color]
a[color=blue]
> copy of Access 2000 installed for my final testing, just in case. I am not
> aware of any "issues" in this area, but I always am more confident if I[/color]
have[color=blue]
> tested in the version/release that will be used in production.
>
> And, of course, using Office XP Developer, you can't package with an[/color]
Access[color=blue]
> 2000 runtime, but if you are distributing with a runtime, that should not[/color]
be[color=blue]
> a drawback.
>
> Larry Linson
> Microsoft Access MVP
>
>[/color]

re: Access 2000 Stability

"Serious_Practitioner" <Serious_PractitionerNOSPAM@att.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Larry's note raises a question...I have read about a lot of software, Access
>included, that has been offered in different versions over the years.
>Frequestly, a user or reviewer will comment that one version is more stable
>than another...I think I've seen that comment in this group as well. So the
>question is - All other things being equal, is Access 2002 more stable than
>2000?[/color]

Initially A2000 was quite unstable but with the SPs installed it's pretty decent. I
haven't had any problems with it recently that I can recall.

Tony


--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

re: Access 2000 Stability

"Tony Toews" wrote
[color=blue]
> Initially A2000 was quite unstable but
> with the SPs installed it's pretty decent.
> I haven't had any problems with it
> recently that I can recall.[/color]

I don't have a copy of Access 2000 with all three Service Packs applied --
did any of them speed up the monolithic save? It appears to me that the
original Access 2002 / 2003 monolithic save, before applying any Service
Packs/Releases to them, is certainly speedier than the original Access 2000
monolithic save.

And, as best I can determine, going to the monolithic save did NOT eliminate
"The Amazing Biodegradable Forms Issue" since I've seen a number of reports
that have suspiciously similar symptoms.

In any case, I don't know of any good argument FOR developing and
distributing in Access 2000 if you have Access 2002 available. If you have
users who only have Access 2000, testing and making the .MDE in Access 2000
ought to work just-fine-thankee.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP