Access startup very very slow (1 Viewer)

[Vgmj]

Hi,
Scenario 1:
Computer connected to work VPN, an empty Access file. Startup of Access takes 15 seconds.
Scenario 2:
The same as scenario 1 but i disconnect the VPN(so, no network) . Startup of Access takes less than 1 second.

Why? How can i bypass those 15 seconds behavior?
PS: w10 64 bits, Access 2016 32 bits

 

[Minty]

Not easily, I suspect somewhere in your empty access file you have a connection or trusted location that is on your VPN network so it's trying to connect to something and as you have another network for it to search it takes some time.

 

[Vgmj]

I have just checked my trusted locations and all of them are on local drive c: and the Access file is empty.
Am i missing something? Does Access tries to connect to something at startup?

 

[Minty]

Do you have network drives mapped on the VPN network? A printer?

If so Access might be checking or trying to connect to them on startup.

 

[CJ_London]

Startup of Access takes 15 seconds

what happens if you just open the access app? (no file)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

As an experiment, see if you are by default connected to a printer on the network. If so, see if you have a "local" PDF or similar "soft" printer and make that the default. Then check your timing.

 

[Vgmj]

@Minty, yes , i have network drives mapped. Access on startup checks for mapped drives? How can i see which drives is Access trying to connect?

@CJ_London , it loads quickly, but when i select Blank desktop Database it takes 15 seconds.

 

[Vgmj]

@The_Doc_Man , just done that, continues at 15 seconds.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Mapping network drives shouldn't make it slow. The paths are discrete and unambiguous for any properly mapped drives, so no searching is needed. And in any case, most databases only have one back-end file so only one network drive would be mapped.

This might be a silly question, but where (physically) is your copy of Access? On your local machine?

 

[Vgmj]

@The_Doc_Man , yes, a local folder on c drive.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

When you open Access without a selected database AND don't select one of the options, there are two places I can think of to check.

From the File tab, select Options. On that dialog box, select General and look at the default database folder. Is that also local?

From the same dialog box, select Add-Ins and see if any entries exist other than local drives.

Now select the "Blank Database" (that you say takes 15 seconds) and repeat that examination.

Also, on my copy of Access, I have to actually download whatever I select from the list of potential database templates. Depending on network speed, I could easily imagine that download taking 15 seconds on a slow machine and/or a slow network. I'm on W10/64 but an older version of Access/32 and a CPU/SSD combination that was originally designed for gaming, so I can't say that my system offers a completely accurate speed comparison.

I'm more concerned about why opening a local FE file takes so long when you have a VPN but is faster when you don't. Something is being looked up but so far I'm not sensing what it is. On the other hand, ... is that VPN something leads to a formal corporate domain? Because if so, there might be some searching for credentials or something from your roaming profile that wouldn't be available if the VPN were turned off somehow, thus forcing your system to rely on the most recent copy of your roaming profile on the your local system.

 

[onur_can]

So how does your other office programs open? For example Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Publisher.

 

[Vgmj]

@onur_can , the other Office programs are ok, just Access takes to long.
@The_Doc_Man , there are no add-ins and yes, it is a corporate domain. But if it is related with my roaming profile why only with Access?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

My next question would have been the one @onur_can asked, which would have only led to further confusion when you answered as you did.

Did you install access or did someone from your IT group do it? My question is mainly based on the way it was installed. I am trying to remember what options for Access installation could cause a network "tap" when you launch with one of the "template" DBs that come up when you open Access directly. If you knew how it was installed, you might know if any options were designated as "run from network" as opposed to "run from disk."

Some IT shops get picky about running certain tools, so this might not be possible in your environment. If you have the ability to do this, there is a place to look that might be useful - and might not. Be sure that you can see the clock that is in the task bar (or if you have a "gadget", the time-of-day clock). Launch your slow DB. Note the time. Now exit.

For Win10, you need to click the lower-left window icon, then click the "gear" icon. In the "Find a setting" box, type "control panel". Find "System and Security" then get to "Administrative Tools." Open the Event Viewer. With funky Win10 there is no guarantee what comes up by default but look on the left "navigation" panel. Expand "Windows Logs" and you will see some number of log categories. I see 5 but it is possible based on other things you would have installed that you would see a different number.

One at a time, open the various logs and scroll through them for the time at which you launched your slow DB. They are time-sorted so it should be easy to find the right time frame. You need to find if there are any entries within 15 seconds of when you launched your slow DB. You are interested as much in seeing errors as you are in seeing a flurry of activity behind the scenes. It might be slow going to read through some events, but you might get some feel for what is going on. AND, since you say this doesn't happen if you have the VPN disconnected, you might want to view the logs a second time by repeating the launch without the VPN and see if you can tell the difference.

To my way of thinking, this is probably some sort of behind-the-scenes authentication but I'm guessing and freely admit I'm drawing blanks as to the specifics of what is being done. The admin logs MIGHT help decide that.

 

[CJ_London]

Not sure if it has a bearing, but IT departments these days often set up your mydocs, desktop and other local folders on the server with a mirror back to the folders on your C drive - all in the name of data security. This may be causing the delay as the windows synchronising app searches for the server folder. Unlike excel/word etc where a file change does not occur until the file is saved, the access file changes as soon as you open it - plus a locking file is created. To test, create a new folder on your C:\ directory, open access and make the new folder trusted and copy/create the file to there. See if it makes a difference.

 

[zeroaccess]

CJ, do you mean Work Folders?

Work Folders is how it's being done now. You run your files from your hard disk, and there is a background process that is basically online backup to the domain server. That way, there are no performance issues. If you move to a different computer and log in for the first time, it will download all your files to the hard disk. Also, sync is stopped if a file remains open (at least that was my experience).

 

[strive4peace]

> "when i select Blank desktop Database it takes 15 seconds "

in addition to default database folder

where is your Documents folder? This is where Access stores database templates you've downloaded (accdt)

 

[strive4peace]

btw, if you right-click in a folder using Windows Explorer, and choose New, you can create a new blank database. I have 2 versions of Access on this machine ... 2007 was the first installed, so it defaults to that version for me.

 

[CJ_London]

CJ, do you mean Work Folders?

probably, I've just seen it as an irritation

 

[Vgmj]

@strive4peace , my documents folder is on the network. I dont have any accdt files on there. That Path is configurable?