Other Microsoft Access Blogs

Here are some other Access blogs I check out every now and then:

http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-access/

http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/default.aspx

http://blog.nkadesign.com/

http://accessblog.net/

http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.com/

Print Barcodes from Access

You'll need a barcode font, if you don't already have it. Once you install the barcode font on your computer, you can print using that font and your text or ID number will appear as a barcode that can be scanned. Here's the site to download the barcode font:

http://www.idautomation.com/fonts/free/

Learn the Structure of an Access Database

A client of mine has requested, as part of a training session, to provide an overview of Access. Well, I've never done this before - usually I provide training only for an application that I've developed. So I was pleased to find this on the web. It's basically an outline of a beginning Access course:

Learn the Structure of an Access Database

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/learn-the-structure-of-an-access-database-HA010341808.aspx

Thank you, Microsoft.

Windows 7 and Mapped Network Drives

Mapped network drives sometimes show a big red X in Windows 7. When you open them with Explorer, all seems to work OK. But if you have to connect to them first with a program like Access that may be trying to connect to a database back-end you'll get a nasty error message, and the back-end won't connect.

The problem may be that Windows 7 attempts to connect the network drive before the network connection is established. Sounds like it could be a bug.

The work around is a registry entry (hack?) that you can implement with this handy .reg script. Just create a .reg file and put this text in it:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

"EnableLinkedConnections"=dword:00000001

... then open it ("Merge" it) on each Windows 7 computer that has the problem. Reboot and all should connect OK.

UPDATE 9/15/2011:

A user reports that the above registry fix/hack did not resolve the problem. So I'm still looking for a way to get Windows 7 to reconnect network drives AFTER the network connection has been established. Can you help? Any ideas?

DBForums Access Code

Need some free Access database code? Some samples to help you get started, or help you learn something new? Check out the DBForums Access Code bank: http://www.dbforums.com/microsoft-access/1605962-dbforums-code-bank.html

Lots of great stuff to download and incorporate into your database.