Compatibility / conflicts?

[Rowena]

Do you folks know of any compatibility issues with Access?

What I am trying to find out is whether some other software on my machine is causing me to have problems with my Access 2000 database on a daily basis.

Have any of you encountered some program or programs that consistently crash Access? How about programs that Access usually causes to crash?

Thanks for any info you can share,

Rowena

 

[DBL]

Tell us a bit more about the problems you are having with Access and the set up you have. I know we all think it can do no wrong but Access can be a total pain when it has a mind to and doesn't need help from anything else to set it off!

 

[Rowena]

System information (long)

We have a small network consisting of two PC's and a server. All machines are running Windows 2000, and Office 2000. We use Peachtree 2003 for accounting purposes, and it also is installed on all machines. My machine has, in addition, software to retrieve images from the digital cameras - we take pictures of our job sites to aid in job planning.

My machine is having a lot of disk errors when I try to add new records in Access, on average about 3 a day. I am also having tons of "lock table full" errors in Peachtree. The other machines do not appear to have any problems. My database is split, with a BE on the server, and the forms, queries, and reports running off the workstations. Each workstation has its own copy of the FE. When I get errors in Access, either the last record entered is corrupted, or it doesn't get saved. I have been backing up the BE every 5 records or so, which is, I have found, the easiest and safest way for me to proceed - if I lose a record or have a problem, I am only a few new records behind.

We've had both the workstations wiped and reformatted, because at one time both were having problems. Now only my machine is acting weird. My supervisor thinks it's related to the fact that I am the one who uses Access most in this office. We have had the network cabling checked, and it (supposedly) is fine. My machine, which worked fine when the consultants had it in the shop, immediately manifested errors once it was re-connected to the network in our office.

Additionally, the errors do not appear under consistent conditions. I might get several in the first two hours of the day, or I might see them in the afternoon. It doesn't seem to matter whether I am the only user on the system or not. Some days I have no errors at all.

I had suspected that Peachtree was the culprit, but their tech support tells me it isn't. Could it be, do you think, the imaging software?

Rowena (sorry for the long reply)

 

[DBL]

When I started to read your reply I immediately thought you hadn't split the database but you obviously have. Make sure that under Tools>Options>Advanced the record locking level (on both machines) is set to Shared and the default record locking is set to edited records. I'd also make sure both machines have the up to date patches installed - you never know, it might help.

Hopefully someone else may have some other suggestions for you to try.

Dawn

 

[Rowena]

Thanks, I will look into it!

Rowena

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The very first thing I would check for, and I didn't see this detailed description, is a virus or other unwanted element on your PC. If you don't have something like Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan or Symantec's product - or heck, any of several others as well... it is time to get one of them RIGHT NOW. That bit about "immediately manifested errors once it was re-connected to the network in our office" smells to high heaven of viral behavior, one of the many e-mail trojan horse varietals.

Don't know what size disk you have, but another thing to consider is to run a ScanDisk with the surface check option. There are very few programs (other than viruses) that can cause disk errors. But a bad disk will do it every time. If you have a bad spot at just the right (wrong) place on your disk, you will swear by all that is holy that the world hates you because of all the trouble you'll see.

Have you defragged your hard drive lately? That rarely causes you the trouble you have reported, but if there is a problem with your disk, Defrag often lets you know.

I don't know details of PeachTree, but it is not known to be THAT flaky in those places where I have seen it before.

Another thing that might help is a package called FirstAid (for your PC). Emblem on the package is a pale blue cross that looks kind of like the Red Cross cross. Get a licensed copy and have it do a full scan for consistency of your system setup and registry.

As to compatibility, the only software that can POSSIBLY be giving you trouble is in your .DLL files. See if you can get a list of the files that PeachTree uses. Maybe your PeachTree tech support can fax that to you. Make sure you get the right names. Then get to your Access Tools>>References dialog box to see if there is any overlap. Or worse, if there is any conflict in terms of version numbers.

 

[Rowena]

And of course, I didn't think of a virus...

It looks like only one of the workstations has anti-virus software, so I'd best get hold of some ASAP.

I defragged the hard drive last Thursday, and when I checked yesterday the analysys said the machine doesn't need defragging right now.

One of my best friends has used Peachtree for years, and says it's her favorite software, which she wouldn't if she'd seen the sorts of things that plague me here.

Thanks for your input on this! I will check everything - it can't hurt!

Rowena

 

[The_Doc_Man]

In the advanced options of defrag, tell it to defrag anyway. That will force it to thoroughly test the drive surface.

 

[Rowena]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have defragged the hard drive again, and it seemed to work fine.

I installed anti-virus software and scanned all my files, and none were infected.

I'm still getting the errors.

Oh, well, as I said, it couldn't hurt.

Rowena

 

[DBL]

something else that's work a try is creating a new blank database and importing all the objects from the existing on in to it. Remember to take any custom toolbars etc and you'll need to recompile the code and set your startup options if they were set. Sometimes when you're working on a database it can just gather a lot of crud in the background and this should get rid of anything that's lurking.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Get your network guru to visit your machine to check its setup parameters. You might have a bad timer value or a bad DMA assignment. Run your

Programs>>Accessories>>System Tools>>System Info

program (if you have it) to attempt to identify resource conflicts.

 

[Rowena]

Thanks! I will look into both of these options - absolutely nothing to lose!

Rowena