Running Access 97 & Access 2002 (XP) on same PC

[Propelled]

Have already got Access XP running on my PC but need to install Access 97 as
well because a friend of mine only works with 97 version and I want them to
be able to use and edit it. Installed 97 to a different folder than current
version but it won't run. Any hints, tips or advice please. Thanks

 

[Allen Browne]

Any error message?

If it says there is no licence, see:
http://www.mvps.org/access/bugs/bugs0013.htm

 

[Steve]

This is exactly the scenario I use.
Let the XP version load onto the system in its normal way.
When you start to load Access 97 put it in an entirely different directory -
mine is in 'Old Office'. You will then have both A97 and A2000 on the same
machine.
One curiousity though - the registry only remembers the lats version of
Access which you use so if you have been working on A97 and you doulble
click one of your later databases it will try to open it with A97 (and
fail!) even though it was created with A2000; similarly if the last version
you had open was A2000 it will try to open all databases with A2000 even if
they were made in A97 (it will ask if you want to convert them!). If Access
can't open it, you probably have A97 locked into the registry, if it wants
to convert it you probably have A2000 in there. Just be aware and fire up
the correct version each time.

 

[Propelled]

Thanks - that's exactly what it said - am off to try the fix.

 

[DBS]

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and say something that's probably not going to be
very popular:

Referring to KB Articles
How to run multiple versions of Office on one computer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290576
Description of how to run multiple versions of Microsoft Access with Access
2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;870961

The key phrase in these articles is: "NOT RECOMMENDED"!!!

I realize that in the real world it might not be possible to have multiple
computers, but if it is AT ALL possible, that's the way to go if it is
necessary to be able to develop using multiple versions of Access. Installing
Office/Access into different directories is all well and good, but there is
also a host of supporting DLLs and other files that are version-specific that
get installed into the windows system directories. These files get
over-written as install one version after another, in favor of the most
recent version. In theory, IF you install the versions of Access (including
service packs) in the proper order, these SHOULD work out all right, but I've
found that the wider the gap between Access versions (say 97 to 2003), the
less backward-compatable these supporting DLLs and other files will be.
Notice that the second KB article doesn't even mention Access 97.

Another thing that makes this issue to deal with is that the problems
encountered when having multiple versions of Access on the same computer will
often be UNPREDICTABLE. I've worked with developers experiencing a wide
variety of issues that turned out to be caused by having multiple versions.
These have ranged from licensing issues, wizards blowing up, and VB modules
and/or databases becoming irretrievably corrupt. The variety of potential
errors between mismatched DLLs are legion.

In general, for CASUAL USERS developing reletively "simple" databases with a
minimal amount of code, this WORKAROUND is acceptible. Barely. But in
situations where one is developing complex applications with significant
amount of code, especially when the deployment plan involves packaging
supporting files beyond the front-end and back-end mdb/mde files. The
rule-of-thumb I've generally suggested in the past has been that if you do
anything in VBA that involves changing the VB references, or if you're going
to be using developer tools to deploy any supporting files, keep the
development machine to one version of Access only.

End of rant.

David

 

[Douglas J Steele]

Many of us have multiple versions of Access installed with no problems.

I believe that the KB articles are deliberately conservative, to minimize
the requirement for support to answer questions about problems.

 

[Albert D.Kallal]

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and say something that's probably not going to
be
very popular:

Hum, I don't think it is a un-popular. However, the fact remains that MANY
developers have two, or more versions of ms-access on their machines, and
have done so for years. and, they done this to support "many" clients. So,
we are talking about people who are on the serious side of development.

So, while you "may" have some historic examples of problems, as a general
rule, you can quite well install and run multiple versions of ms-access, and
a good many developers here have done this for years.

Sure, if you have a choice, then I would certainly heed your cautions, and
not install multiple versions. However, by an large, this is a workable
arrangement, and a setup that many developers well get away with.

Today, most developers have Virtual PC, and thus you can well support access
97 running on a windows 95 "pre" 98 version with ease. And, the same goes
for running a2000 on a win 2000 box.

With virtual PC, you can run all of these setups, and not mess up your
"super clean" development edition of a2003 if you don't want to.......