Word 2000 mail merge documents won't save Access 2000 data source

[Andy C]

Had Word 2000 and upgraded to 2003, hated it and went back to 2000. Now mail
merge letters that used to work fine in 2000 will not save the data source
(an Access 2000 database). Each time I open a mail merge document an error
message tells me the data source does not exist. I have to work through the
mail merge helper and it tells me the same thing until I choose the option to
remove remove all mail merge info then work through it again. After this the
merge function will work. I save the document before closing it. Next time I
open the document it cannot find the data source again. This is driving me
nuts..... please help.
Thanks, Andy

 

[Peter Jamieson]

I don't know what the cause is, but...

Are you connecting using DDE or ODBC? Have you tried using the other
connection method?

I would consider the following for starters:
a. ensuring that the "Hide Extensions for known file types" box is
unchecked in Windows Explorer|Tools|Folder Options|View. But you probably
haven't changed that...
b. checking the options in Access Tools|Advanced particularly to ensure
that the Default Open Mode is Shared.
c. ensuring that the most up-to-date version of the MDAC is installed, then
Detect and Repair in Word and "Discard my customized settings and restore
default settings" when offered
d. when you have successfully connected (which you obviously have), save
the document in HTML format, re-open it as a plain text file and see what
information Word has recorded about the data source in the block of
mailmerge-related data near the to pof the document. I would be looking for
stuff such as the complete database path hasn't been stored, and so on.

Peter Jamieson