I have an Access 2002 database (about 120mb) which was replicated using Replication Manager (version unknown). It is set up to use Internet Synchronization. We use it on state government LAN and WAN as well as the Internet. It works well in most cases, but on a few computers we get the error "Http address not found" when synchronization is attempted. The address is indeed visible to those computers. We have determined that reloading Windows (XP Pro) will usually solve the problem at least for a while but when GIS mapping software is installed it reappears. More worrisome is that some brand new laptops with factory-installed Windows are showing the same problem, which means it could get worse as we upgrade equipment.

Has anyone else encountered this error?

So you database is accessible on the internet?

No, the database is not visible. It is an Access database for a wildlife agency which is used by a Delphi 7 front end. There is no code and no forms in the database, just data. Users synchronize with the hub database on a remote server through a VPN connection. We are using this approach because some of our users (myself included) are at very remote locations using either satellite or even dial-up connections and client/server is not a possibility (due to our type of work, result sets can be very large).

Interestingly, only one of the problem computers is on a slow connection. Most of the others communicating with the hub server on a WAN, generally via T1 or DSL. I just read another blog which makes me suspect permissions to write to the dropbox on the server might be at fault. Maybe a ping doesn't tell us all we need to know. Note that the problem occurs whether synchronization is initiated from either the application or from the Access menu system.

I just read another blog which makes me suspect permissions to write to the dropbox on the server might be at fault.

You need to try BIGPOST.EXE:

http://www.trigeminal.com/resources.asp?1033

(and I'd recommend reviewing all the replication-related resources on http://trigeminal.com)

I don't do Internet replication (I object to the outside dependency on IIS), but I know that it was discussed at length in the newsgroup microsoft.public.access.replication back in the days when Michael Kaplan was still posting there. I'd go to Google Groups and search that newsgroup on "Internet" and see what you can come up with.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

--
David W. Fenton
David Fenton Associates
http://dfenton.com/DFA/

I still think that Terminal Services would be a much better bet. You've already got VPN anyway and TS is realtime and more efficient, only one PC is on a slow connection. Whilst this does not cater for all eventualities I do think it is worth considering. The problem I had with re-syncing databases was they were immediately out of date.

Simon

Thanks for the help. We haven't found the problem yet but the resources you told me about should help. This will be for my IT people to work on. I'm the programmer, not a net administrator.

For the record, this is a situation where replication is about the only way we can handle the problem. My application handles fishery related data for a state wildlife agency. About 10% of my users are on satellite or dial-up at very remote locations in the Colrado Rockies with no chance of seeing even DSL any time soon. Also, due to the type of work we do, our result sets can be very large, so only the fastest connections could handle the kind of searches we must run. A true client/server system would be really nice, but it will be out of reach for some time yet so we must muddle through with what we have.

Thanks again for the help.