Word could not re-establish a DDE Connection to Microsoft Access

[Len]

I am working with 19 school districts and over 100 schools. Every computer
can have different Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access installed.

I am getting the mesage:

Word could not re-establish a DDE Connection to Microsoft Access

When we get the funding we upgrade the oldest software and machines.

The system I am on now is SBS (Small Business Server) Word 2000 and Access
2002.

As soon as I go to open the Access Database I get the error above. This is
happening on about 85% of my systems. What do I need to do to get all of my
Mail-Merges to work so that we can send the proper letters to the proper
paresnt?

I have been messing with this for several weeks and cannot find a solution.

Thanks in Advance!

Len

I tried the solutions from previous postings and either I am
miss-understanding them or they do not work.

 

[Graham Mayor]

DDE is at best flaky and not helped by running different versions of the
software. For this reason later versions have abandoned DDE as the default
connection method. Peter may be along later to offer his knowledge on the
subject but you could in the meantime try

From the Tools menu in Word, select Options and then go to the General tab
and check the box against the "Confirm conversions at open" item. Then when
you attach the data source to the mail merge main document, you will be
given the option of using alternative methods of connection. See if one of
the alternatives works for you.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Len]

Graham;

Thanks for the tip, however it still failed. The problem with
Word and the later versions is that if the kids rely on the later versions of
MS Word too much they get failing grades from the English teachers. The
teachers still prefer Word 97. With limited funds and me trying to keep up
to date with the educational resources we have it is a constant fight. They
love the upgrades in MS Access, but hate them in MS Word.

Thanks Again

Len

 

[Graham Mayor]

You could search the forum for Peter's earlier contributions on the topic of
DDE as he has indicated that he will not be available so often in future to
address such matters.

I understand budget limitations but failing grades for kids who use up to
date software, because the teachers prefer an ancient version, is a worrying
indictment of your country's education system

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Len]

Graham;

There were three other recomendations and one of them worked on a
school that has MSWord 2002 and MS Access 2003.

What I am wondering is if MS Word 2003 will work with MS Access
2002. I am not an English teacher, so I cannot comment on why they feel the
way they do.

Thanks Again

Hope you have a great Weekend

Len

 

[Len]

Graham;
I have just learned that Peter's method did work with MS Word
2003 and MS Access 2007. It appears that it does not work with MS Word 2000
and MS Access 2002.

I know very little about MS Word and that is also a handicap.
Application programmers do VB and SQL.

I would like to load all of them, but in our country everyone is
so scared about litgious fines as a result of licsensing agreements.

Thanks Again

Len

 

[Leona Leal Educator]

Len;

This is Granny Leona and I am having the exact same problem that you
are having except that ours have gone to the Ivy League.

I have been advised to try Word 97 with Access 2007, before I go
through all this trouble (my English teachers love Word 97) do you know if
this works? I will have to but the items I need out of my pocket. I am sure
you understand.

God Bless

Granny Leona

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Which particular method worked?

The first thing I would look for in any Word/Access connection using DDE is
to ensure that no dialog boxes are popping up behind Word so that users
cannot see them and dismiss them.

FWIW I do not usually mix-and-match versions of Word and Access here, but
another thing I would check if someone is doing that is that the version of
MSACCESS that you need to start is actually in the Windows PATH. If it
isn't, I suspect DDE will not be able ot find Access and start it.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Len]

Peter;

Thanks for getting back to us. How do I find out if it is in the
Windows Path?

Thanks

Len

 

[Peter Jamieson]

1. Which particular method worked?

2. Which version of Windows are you using on the workstations (i.e. not on
the SBS server?)

3. To find out whether access is on the PATH you would need to know the
fully qualified path name of the specific version of Access that Word needs
to open. The file name will probably be MSACCESS.EXE. You may be able to
find the full path name from e.g. an icon on the desktop. You can find out
which folders are in the PATH either by opening a command windows (old-style
"DOS box" and typing PATH, then enter. Otherwise it depends on your version
of Windows, e.g. try something like Control Panel->System>possibly "Advanced
System Settings" in Vista->Advanced->Environment variables.

Peter Jamieson

 

[Len]

Peter;

I have 120 schools so it is impossible to give you a number.

The Oldest MS Access is 2000 and that is only a few schools. Most of
them have Access 2002 or 2003, but there are about 20 schools with MS Access
2007.

No one is using MS Word 2007 or greater. Most of them are on MS
Word 2000, about 105 schools.

I am going to try to find the path now and see where I can get with it.

Thanks Again

Len

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Len,

I probably misunderstood what you said here...

....but since i have probably posted several different things that might
"work" I wondered which one of them "worked" for Word 2003/Access 2007.
Unless of course there's a typo and "did work" was actually supposed to say
"did not work" e.g., there is a KB article that /might/ relate to this
problem at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/834699/en-us

If you are wiling to stick with this conversation over the next few days or
so, I can try have a more thorough look at this area, e.g. to create systems
with the various combinations that you are using. I can't do any of that
today, for example. However, whether I will be able to replicate the errors
is another question. Whether I will be able to identify either a "cause" or
a cure is also very doubtful. But if we're going to do that, I'd rather
start by trying to establish exactly what is and is not happening. Maybe we
can step through some of that in the next round of messages.

If you would rather do this by email that's fine with me too.

On the other hand, perhaps a call directly to Microsoft support (you
probably know that we are just volunteers) would be more effective (as long
as you can identify a combination of products that does not work and is
actually still supported - I suspect it would have to be Win XP or later,
Word 2003 or later, Access 2003 or later).

Peter Jamieson

 

[Len]

Peter;

It works with Word 2003 and Access 2007. The programmer who worked
with Microsoft was on the phone with them for about 7 hours. I do not know
what they did. I looked at the path and saw nothing that pointed to the
Directory ("Folder") MSOffice where we have both the Word and Access Programs
stored.

On this system I had to drive about 75 miles one way. Our schools
district is about 22,000 square miles. This is why it is taking so long to
get back to you.

We are even getting the error on a system that has both Word and
Access 2002.

Thanks Again

Len

 

[Len]

Peter;

Changing the Path is working on Word 2000 and Access 2002 and/or
Access 2003, but not 2007. I am going to drive to all the schools and update
them and see what is not working when I have visited them all.

Thank You and Later

Len

 

[Peter Jamieson]

HI Len,

Well that's something.

DDE connectivity with Access 2007 seems to be a problem even for Word 2007
users in some cases.