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ACCESS Printing Issues

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by caasibox

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I am running Windows 98 with Access 2000 (from an upgrade). I originally had no printer installed, and when I built a database using the wizard, it prompted that reports would not be available until a printer was installed. I entered information (lots) and eventually added a printer. My reports still won't print. I created another database to see if it would have the same problem--it did not.

So my questions are:
1) Is there a way to make the reports function operational in the existing databases? How?

2) If not and I have to create a new one, can I transfer the information from the old database into the new one? How?

Thank you.

4 replies

by k.grass

Back up your .dbx files to disk (always a good idea anyways) unistall Access and then reinstall it. The idea here is trying to get Access to recognize the printer as it's going through it's installation routine.

On the File Menu go to the Open option and then navigate to the location of your .dbx files, click on it and then click Open. Should be all set from there.

Want to know more about access try this:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR061829401033.aspx

HTH - K. Grass

by rindi1

Open your database and reports, select file, print and now select the printer you want to print to. Possibly you originaly had a printer installed, like "generic, or print to file", and now this "dummy-printer" will still be the Default Printer for those reports.

by kaspencer

I have had problems with printing in all versions of Access since version 1 (Office 4.3). And we still use all versions up to Access 11 (Office 2003).

Access can refuse to edit and to open reports with certain printers (e.g. Samsung ML-45xx and ML-12xx). Furthermore some printer drivers provoke a complete and utter silent system crash and reboot when the Access 11 VBA Editor is opened and Visual Studio .NET 2003 is installed with the JIT C/C++ Debugger.

One way to gain access to reports when Access is misbehaving is to install the "Generic Text Only" printer, and then set the Windows default printer to it. That will allow reports to be opened when otherwise Access 2003 just refuses silently to edit or open a report. It will also permit the report to be assigned to an alternative, better behaved Access/printer combination.

Microsoft needs to test more printer drivers (e.g. I am sure Billy Gates could afford to buy and test every printer in production every year) and get onto manufacturers where printers cause issues.

Kenneth Spencer

by boulderridge

If you don't find an easy was to make the reports function from the existing databases, you do have an option 2. It is relatively easy to transfer information from one database to another.

First create the new blank database and create a simple test object to test that you can print. Then select File...GetExternalData...Import and browse to the original database you want to "copy." You will get a dialog box with tabs for each object type (tables, queries, etc.) and for each tab that contains objects, click "Select All" to highlight all the objects. You must do this for each applicable tab. Then click the "Options>>" button to view the other types of items you can also copy to your new database (relationships, menus and toolbars, etc.) and check any of these items that you had created in your original database. Leave "Import Tables" as "Definition and Data" to copy your data and leave "Import Queries" as "As Queries" to get the query objects rather than the query results only. When you click "OK" to this dialog box, all your selected objects will be copied into your new database and you should be ready to print! The only thing you might have to recreate manually is your Startup options (if you had any).

Good luck! --BoulderRidge

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