ODE97: Convert or Enable Message When You Open an Access 97 Run-Time Application After You Install Office 2000

After you install Microsoft Office 2000 Premium, when you try to start your run-time application, you are asked whether you want to convert or enable your database.

When you install Office 2000 Premium on a computer that has the stand-alone version of Microsoft Access 97 and an Access 97 run-time application installed on it, Office 2000 is installed into the default path, which results in the Access 97 executable, Msaccess.exe, being overwritten with the Office 2000 version of the file.

NOTE: This behavior does not occur if you had previously installed Office 97 Professional instead of the stand-alone version of Access 97.

To resolve this problem, obtain Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a (SR-1/SR-1a).

To obtain SR-1/SR-1a, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: NOTE: Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1 will not, by default, overwrite the stand-alone version of Access 97. However, if Access 97 has already been overwritten, installing Microsoft Office 2000 will not resolve this issue. In this case, it is best to re-install Access 97.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1/SR-1a.

When Microsoft Office 2000 is installed on a computer that has a version of Microsoft Office 97 Professional and an Access 97 run-time application, you are presented with the choice of Upgrade now or Customize. Either option has the default installation location of C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office2k. In this situation Access 97 is not overwritten and any Access 97 run-time applications are not affected.

However, when Microsoft Office 2000 Premium is installed on a computer that has an Access 97 run-time application with only the stand-alone version of Access 97, you are instead presented with a choice of Install Now or Customize. Customize has a default installation location of C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office but does give you an option to change the location. The Install Now option does not give you a chance to install to a different location and installs automatically into the default location. Consequently, if you have installed Access 97 previously into its default location of C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office, Access 97 is overwritten.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Install Office 97 Professional to its default folder of C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office.
2. Install an Access 97 run-time application to a different folder.
3. Verify that both installations work as expected.
4. Install Access 2000 from Microsoft Office 2000 Premium.
5. On the page that is name Microsoft Office 2000: Ready to Install, click Install Now.
6. Try starting your run-time application that was created in Access 97.

Note that you are asked to convert or enable your database, which indicates that Access 2000 is being started. This is because Access 97 is no longer installed and has been replaced by Access 2000.

For additional information on a similar issue that involves installing Access 2000 over an existing Access 97 run-time application, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: