Yep, and the max size is 1 gig in Access 97.
I've never had to recover from this problem, so the following methods are
speculation on my part - they are what I might try if I was in this situation.
FIRST - make a backup copy of your current database. If something goes wrong in
trying solutions to fix the problem, at least you can get back to where you were.
You might be able to extract the data by creating a new database and importing
your tables from your existing database.
If you've never compacted the database, you might be able to compact it and get
back into it. Since it won't let you open it at all, you might try just opening
Access with NO database selected/active. Then from the menubar select Tools:
Database Utilities: Compact Database. You should be able to navigate to your
database and select it and then press the compact button.
The question might be how did you get to 1 gig in size. Are you storing
graphics in the database? If so, ACCESS is NOT good at doing this and will very
quickly bloat to a gigabyte. There are possible solutions if this is your
problem, but that would be another question.
By the way, did I say "Make a backup copy first!"? If not, make a backup copy first.
