This is usually caused by a printer driver issue.
Access uses the metrics from the printer driver to calculate how to lay out
the report. If you have no printer, or the printer driver is faulty, or
Access is not able to make sense of the printer driver (usually a network
printer), it can't do anything: not even design the report.
If you have no printer, install one. (You don't actually have to buy a
printer.)
If you have a network printer, install a local one (any one), and set it as
default.
If you have a bad printer driver, you may be able to update it from the
manufacturer's site.