Upgraded to 2003 - Error Messages?!

[Roger Tregelles]

Hi Folks,

My IT department just upgraded my PC from Office 2002 to Office 2003. Now,
everytime I open one of my databases that I had created in Access 2002
(shared databases - Front end on my PC, Backend on the Network) I get the
following messages.

Security Warning: Unsafe expressions are not blocked
Do you want to block unsafe expressions?

I click on Yes and then was informed I needed to shutdown Access and restart
it. Once I did this the message went away for this database. I assume I will
need to do this for all of my databases created in Access 2002. Am I right
in telling Access to block these potentially unsafe expressions?

Now I get another message that says as follows:

Security Warning
This file might not be safe if it contains code that was intended to harm
your computer.
Do you want to open this file or cancel this operation?

I click on Open and it opens the file, but I need to do this every time I
open the database. How do I shut off this message? Is there anywhere I can
go to find out more about the main differences between Access 2002 and
Access 2003 and what you need to do with files created in the previous
versions? Also, are databases saved and or created in Access 2003 backward
compatible with Access 2002? Any help, direction and guidance would be
greatly appreciated.

Roger Tregelles
Respironics Inc.
Quality Engineer

 

[Ben]

This is a feature to prevent macro or scripts to harm anything. To turn it
off go to "Tools -> Macro -> Security" and set the option to low. That
should take it away. This is for the MS Access 2003. Maybe it is the same
with the rest of the Office tools.

 

[Roger Tregelles]

Ben,

Thanks, that did the trick. I really appreciate your help with this. Do you
know anywhere I can go to find more information on the key differences
between Access 2003 and 2002?

Roger Tregelles
Respironics Inc.
Quality Engineer

 

[Craig Alexander Morrison]

There is very little apart from the "feature" you encountered and a bit more
XML (no comment) support.

Improved stability seems the main thing added and this, one might argue,
should have been a Service Pack.

However Office and Windows are the main revenue streams so they have to flog
something every two years or so.

Look out for Office 12 on Vista just previewed by Bill to the public this
week. Available in about 12 months.

BTW If you use the SELFCERT tool aka Digital Certificate for VBA Projects on
the Office Tools Start Menu you can use the High or Medium levels to ensure
that you only get a warning when you open an unsigned database. Can be
useful in corporate environments to restrict use of unauthorised access
files.

Note: If you search the book from Microsoft Press - Microsoft Office Access
2003 Inside Out, which is a good introductory intermediate book, you will
not find the string "What's new" and "New Feature" appears less than a dozen
times and many of them talk about a New Feature in 2000, that has finally
been fixed in 2003 or at least fiddled with a bit. (g)

BTW, The above book is good and Microsoft Office Access 2003 is very good,
it could be better though.