Access 2003 may not start as expected after you install Office 2003 SP2

After you install Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft Office Access 2003 may not start as expected. You may receive a message that is similar to the following: The configuration appears to finish as expected, but Access 2003 does not start. When you try to start Access 2003 again, you receive the same message.

This problem can occur if you use Group Policy to install Office 2003 SP2 on a per-user basis. When you use Group Policy to install Office 2003 SP2 on a per-user basis, a registry key may not be updated correctly.

This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To resolve this problem, you can also use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Import the registry key from a computer where Access 2003 starts as expected

To resolve this problem, export a registry key from a computer where Access 2003 starts as expected. To do this, follow these steps.

Note When you follow these steps, some settings, such as ODBC settings or time-out settings, may be overwritten on the computer where Access 2003 does not start.

1. On the computer where Access 2003 starts as expected, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet
3. Right-click the registry key that you located in step 2, and then click Export.
4. In the Export Registry File dialog box, specify a location for the exported file, type a file name, click Selected branch, and then click Save.
5. Copy the file that you created in step 4 to the computer where Access 2003 does not start as expected.
6. On the computer where Access 2003 does not start as expected, double-click the file that you copied in step 5, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to add the information to the Windows registry.
7. Click OK.

Method 2: Manually change the registry

To resolve this problem, manually change the registry on the computer where Access 2003 does not start as expected. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Excel
3. In the right pane, right-click win32, and then click Modify.
4. In the Value data box, type the following, and then click OK:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\msaexp30.dll
   Note This path is for the default location. If the Msaexp30.dll file is located on another drive or in another folder, use the path of the actual drive and folder.
5. Exit Registry Editor, and then start Access 2003.

To work around this problem, use Group Policy to install Office 2003 SP2 on each computer. For more information about how to deploy Office 2003 SP2 on each computer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3.