ACC2000: Troubleshooting Tips for Conversion Issues in Access 2000

When you convert a Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 database to a Microsoft Access 2000 database, the conversion process may display a warning message or stop altogether because of an incompatibility with new features and enhancements. This article discusses general troubleshooting tips for the unusual case when Microsoft Access cannot convert a database successfully.

Compile Errors

If conversion creates a database, but you receive an error message, such as you should compile all modules in the converted database. The converted database may have changes in syntax from version 1.x or 2.0 that you must manually change. In rare instances, the conversion utility may fail to convert some Access Basic code to Visual Basic for Applications code. For example, it may fail to modify a DoCmd statement, such as into a method of the DoCmd object: To compile all modules in a converted database, follow these steps:

1. Open the converted database in the Access 2000.
2. Open a module in Design view.
3. On the Debug menu, click Compile database.

As Microsoft Access compiles your code, it stops at any line that contains an error. You can then modify the syntax to resolve the compilation error.

Import Objects

If the conversion process seems to stop, takes a long time to complete, or displays an error that prevents the new database from being created, you can create a new database in Access 2000 and import objects (individually or grouped) from the version 1.x or 2.0 database.

Importing objects into a new database has two benefits:

• You can determine which objects have an incompatibility with Access 2000. If an object fails to import, you know you need to examine it more closely for a potential incompatibility. If an object imports successfully, it is automatically converted to the new version.
• You can speed the conversion process by importing groups of objects. If you have a large database, the conversion process may be slow or may appear to cause your computer to stop responding. Importing groups of objects requires less memory and in some cases may be faster.

To use the Import command instead of the Convert Database command, follow these steps:

1. Create a new Microsoft Access 2000 database.
2. On the File menu, click Get External Data, and then click Import.
3. In the Import dialog box, make sure to select Microsoft Access in the Files of type box.
4. In the Look in box, select the drive and the folder where the Microsoft Access database (.mdb) that you want to import is located, and then double-click the database's icon.
5. Click one or more (up to 20) objects to import.
6. Click OK to import the selected objects.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 until all the objects are imported into the new database.

Reduce Errors

To help reduce errors during the conversion process:

• Recompile all modules in the Microsoft Access 1.x or 2.0 database, using Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0, and then convert the database to the new version. This practice eliminates any pre-existing compilation errors that result in error messages when you convert the database to the new version.
  
  Doing this may require you to reinstall Microsoft Access 1.x or 2.0 if you installed Microsoft Access 2000 into the same folder (directory) as version 1.x or 2.0. You may want to reinstall Microsoft Access 1.x or 2.0 into a different folder so that you have both versions available for resolving any conversion problems.
• Open the database in Microsoft Access version 1.x or 2.0 and look for incompatibilities, such as modules called "DAO," "Access," or some other type of library name.

For additional information about converting databases that use 16-bit application programming interface (API) calls, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
For more information about database conversion and compatibility, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type conversion and compatibility issues in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.