97 and 2003 side by side

[John R. Youngman]

I run Win XP Pro and use both Access 97 and Access 2003.

To run any database I need to right click on the icon and then select "Open
with" and then select the correct version of Access.

I tried changing the icon properties (for the Start in field) to make sure
that the path went to the right version of Access, but it didn't help. The
system seems to default to the last version of Access that I used if I just
double click on one of the database icons. That means about half the time
it uses the wrong version of Access to start the database.

Also, the screen icons switch back and forth for all Access icons depending
on the last use--for example, if I open an Access 97 file then all screen
icons look like Access 97.

Any way to fix these problems?

TIA

John

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Since both versions use the MDB extension, and a given extension can only be
registered with a single application, there's really no easy solution.

One possibility is to always use shortcuts to open your applications, and
have each shortcut explicitly point to the correct version of Access.

Another is to use a different extension for one of the versions, so that you
can link each extension appropriately. (Unfortunately, there's no way to
make Access use a different extension when you create a database)

There are also 3rd party products that might help, such as Total Access
Startup, from FMS http://www.fmsinc.com/products/startup/ or AccVer, from
David Aylott http://www.aylott.com.au/software.htm

To keep which version is linked to the MDB extension from changing, look for
the files msaccess.srg and wizard.srg in the same folder as msaccess.exe,
and rename them.

 

[John R. Youngman]

Thanks. I think I'll start with your suggestion to change extensions (on my
old Access 97 files).

John