Can't resize the Properties Window

[philipavery]

I have been running 2003 on XP SP2 for some time but a couple of days ago I needed to do a 'detect and repair' on Word but without resoring defaults. When I opened Access, the Properties Window was back to its default (small) size and couldn't be resized. An uninstall/reinstall made no difference.

Has anybody got any idea what might have happened and what I can do to put it right? I usually have it the height of the screen and this is driving me nuts!

 

[Guus2005]

Perhaps:

Left click your toolbars and select customize. select reset.
This works for other problems you might have with toolbars and the likes.

HTH Guus

 

[philipavery]

Hi Guus

Oh how I wish it had worked, but I'm still working in a postage stamp...

Any other ideas gratefully received.

Philip

 

[RuralGuy]

Could you post a picture of the problem so we can see it?

 

[philipavery]

Hi Rural Guy

That will teach me to be flippent It's not really postage stamp size - it's the standard size you get on first installing which on my monitor is about 300px square and showing 11 rows. It just feels like a postage stamp and is driving me maaaaaad.

Surely, I'm not the only person on the planet to have experienced this? Hmmm, thinking about my relationship with MS, I probably am.

Philip

 

[RuralGuy]

Are you talking about when you have the code window open?

 

[philipavery]

Sorry for not making it clear. I'm talking about the Properties window in Access, not the VBA IDE. I've just found that I've got the same problem with the Field Chooser but not with the database container. Where do the settings get stored? I've not been able to find anything in the registry.

 

[RuralGuy]

I guess I'm just real dense. What version of Access are you using? Are you talking about the property sheet of a form? How about the Database Properties? I do not know what the Properties Window is in Access since there are so many properties. Could your db be corrupt? Do you have the same problem with a new db?

 

[philipavery]

Density is good Same in 2000, 2002 and 2003 (don't have 2007) and in all databases including new, so it's not a corruption thing. I'm talking about the windows that relate to Access forms and reports (View, Properties / View, Field List).

 

[RuralGuy]

Which you only see when you have a form or report open in design view, correct?

 

[philipavery]

Yes, if you set Allow Design Changes to Design View Only in the... Properties window!

I'm still looking for the place where Access stores the information about the last size settings for these windows.

 

[RuralGuy]

I don't know where Access keeps this information but do you have scroll bars of your property window and is the window sizable? Does the cursor turn into a double arrow when you get to the edge of the window?

 

[philipavery]

Yes, it has scroll bars and I get the double-headed arrows. It's simply that click and drag doesn't work.

 

[RuralGuy]

Is this true of a new bd as well? Just start a form in a new db and see if it is still broke. That would determine if it is Access that is broke of just the current MDB you are working with. If the new mdb works then maybe importing everything in your old mdb into a new fresh one will solve the problem. It only takes about 1 minute to complete the process.

 

[philipavery]

Ni, it's all databases inc. new ones, and all versions of Access, so it's clearly an Access setting.

 

[RuralGuy]

Have you already tried a repair install of Access?

 

[philipavery]

Yup, and a full uninstall/reinstall but I understand that Microsoft leave a lot of settings data behind on an uninstall "just in case" you reinstall at some time.

 

[RuralGuy]

I guess it is M$'s way of saying you should probably be looking for a new computer!
Sorry but I'm out of ideas.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm intrigued. Is this ONLY for property windows? Or do you have trouble resizing other things? For instance, if you have Outlook, can you resize the address book when it is open? It almost sounds to me like you need to repair WINDOWS, not ACCESS. Is this problem always and only on the same computer, just different versions of Access?

Does a COMPLETE de-install and re-install help? Do you have a "registry cleaner" utility? If so, do your de-install, clean the registry, and then do a re-install. I'll have to look through my old registry information but offhand that doesn't sound like a setting I recall.

If that de-install, re-install doesn't do it, then I'm wondering if you have a Windows problem. I would do virus scans and a Windows "refresh" if possible.

See, wht bothers me is that technically, Access doesn't resize windows. That isn't its function. WINDOWS resizes windows and - if I rememer correctly - the properties window is a "true" child window. Which means Access doesn't really handle the window functions such as resizing. (One of the implications of object-oriented programming.) It lets Windows do that because that is what Windows does.

 

[philipavery]

Hi RG - it is a new computer, well mother board, processor, RAM! I'll wait for the marketing hype: "It'll all work perfectly in Vista". Thanks for the input. I was out of ideas from the start.

Doc Man, I'm certainly getting no marks for English. "Describe in your own words..."

OK, I have done a detect/repair, a repair install and an uninstall/reinstall. Let me recap: all windows within the Access IDE are resizeable (i.e. can be resized by click/drag on a border) except the Properties window/dialog and the Field List. These were always resizeable and I kept the Properties window extended down the side of the IDE, about 3 times its normal height. One day, I needed to make it smaller and its size was fixed so I did a 'detect/repair - reset to defaults'. The windows opened at the out-of-the box default size but could not be resized, although the sizing arrows appeared.

I think you're right about the Properties window being a true child window and are right to say that Access does not resize windows, but it does define the type of window, resizeable, dialog etc. A program's volatile settings (position and size of windows) would normally be stored between sessions in local files while interface switch-type settings would be stored in the Registry and this seems to be a switch-type setting - Resizeable=False, although WIndows clearly sees it as resizeable, hence the border and sizeing arrows.

Windows in the other Office programs are all (so far as I can tell) resizeable. It just seems to be these two.

I have used a Registry utility to clean and defrag it and have done a full virus scan but not between installs so I'll try that over the weekend and let you know. I am reluctant to do a Windows repair as my experience of less than full installs has been unhappy. But it may be the only thing left.