Option settings grayed out. Unable to complete repair.

[Frank M]

Hi,
I am supporting a small business server 2003 with 6 client workstaions.
Access 2003 is installed on the workstations and shares an access database
located on the server.
The system has been working fine for 2 years.
Recently we have had problems with the workstations being logged off or just
locking up.
In checking I found that the options command on the menu is grayed out.
I tried to do a repair and got errors 1931 and 1406.
We recently installed Webroot SME software on the server. As part of the
install I installed SQLExpress on the server. Could this be conflicting with
the Access Jet engine?
Also, is there a group policy setting on the server that restricts changes
to Access?
Would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Frank M

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Access 2003 is installed on the workstations and shares an access database
located on the server.

Has the database been split into a Front end and back end?

If not You want to split the MDB into a front end containing the
queries, forms, reports, macros and modules with just the tables and
relationships. The FE is copied to each network users computer. The
FE MDB is linked to the tables in the back end MDB which resides on a
server. You make updates to the FE MDB and distribute them to the
users, likely as an MDE.

See the "Splitting your app into a front end and back end Tips" page
at http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/splitapp/ for more info. See the
Auto FE Updater downloads page
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm to make this relatively
painless.. The utility also supports Terminal Server/Citrix quite
nicely.

The system has been working fine for 2 years.
Recently we have had problems with the workstations being logged off or just
locking up.
In checking I found that the options command on the menu is grayed out.

This would be Tools >> Options?

I tried to do a repair and got errors 1931 and 1406.

What is the message associated with errors 1931 and 1406?

We recently installed Webroot SME software on the server. As part of the
install I installed SQLExpress on the server. Could this be conflicting with
the Access Jet engine?

Shouldn't have.

Also, is there a group policy setting on the server that restricts changes
to Access?

No idea.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Also, is there a group policy setting on the server that restricts changes
to Access?

What are you trying to restrict? People from making changes to your
MDB? If so split the database, create an MDE and distribute that to
your users. You *MUST* keep the MDB though for making changes in the
future.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Frank M]

Tony,
Thanks for your help.
Our data base is split. A main table contains our membership and each user
has their own forms and queries. Both reside on the server in separate
directories.
We will try your suggestions.
Frank M

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Our data base is split. A main table contains our membership and each user
has their own forms and queries. Both reside on the server in separate
directories.

Let me just ensure we're thinking the same thing. Each user has thier
own copy of the FE MDB?

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Frank M]

Tony,
Each user has their own front end. They are located on the server not on
each computer. This was done to facilitate backup.
Both the FE and BE databases are set to shared access with record locking of
the editable record. Is this proper for our setup?
The FE records are rarely changed. The BE is the main table and is updated
many times during the day.
Frank

 

[John Mishefske]

Tony,
Each user has their own front end. They are located on the server not on
each computer. This was done to facilitate backup.

PMJI.. Frank, it would be unusual to require a backup of the FrontEnd since it usually is
not used to store data but just the forms, reports, etc. The FE should be a throw-away; if
it becomes corrupted or otherwise unusable you just download/copy a new copy.

If you are storing individual user settings then save them in the BE.

You are losing the performance enhancements that a split FE/BE .mdb setup offers. Every
form/report access requires multiple round-trips over the (relatively) slow network rather
than a quick local disk access.

 

[Frank M]

John,

Thanks! It hadn't occurred to me. It's so obvious now that you point it out.
We will change our setup to place the user Fe on each computer and only keep
the main BE data base on the server. I really appreciate your post.

Frank Maczka

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Thanks! It hadn't occurred to me. It's so obvious now that you point it out.
We will change our setup to place the user Fe on each computer and only keep
the main BE data base on the server. I really appreciate your post.

Well, you still want to backup the FE MDB that you use for
development.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

You are losing the performance enhancements that a split FE/BE .mdb setup offers. Every
form/report access requires multiple round-trips over the (relatively) slow network rather
than a quick local disk access.

Well, the performance hit on keeping the FE MDB/MDE isn't that bad. A
client running Citrix didn't want to copy the FE MDB/MDE to the Citrix
Server so we ran them off the file server. It worked reasonably well.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm