Changing field types...

[Tara]

I'm trying to change a field's data type from number to
text...when I do this I get an error saying that Microsoft
Access can't change the data type because there is not
enough free disk space or memory. I have plenty of free
space on my drive..why am I getting this error?

 

[John Vinson]

I'm trying to change a field's data type from number to
text...when I do this I get an error saying that Microsoft
Access can't change the data type because there is not
enough free disk space or memory. I have plenty of free
space on my drive..why am I getting this error?

Access is trying to read your entire table into memory, TWICE - the
old and new versions.

I'd suggest creating a new, empty table with the desired field types,
and run an Append query to migrate the data. Check the result for
completeness and accuracy, delete the old table and rename the new
one. You'll need to also drop and reestablish all relationships.