Category Archives: Microsoft Access

Sep 26

Free Trial Offers for Microsoft Office 365 on the Cloud

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office365Microsoft Office 365 is Microsoft’s new and popular way to license the Office products for online and desktop use. It also includes hosted Exchange for email, SharePoint, OneDrive for shared hard disk files, and the communications package Lync. The cloud based platform means Microsoft takes care of the system administration to update versions, apply security patches, monitor usage, ensure uptime and connectivity, and address hardware problems.

Let Microsoft Take Care of Exchange and Email

If you are still hosting your own Exchange Server in your facility, it’s time to consider outsourcing so Microsoft can worry about the versions, patches, hardware failures, and other maintenance chores. Microsoft will also host it in a real data center with reliable power sources, battery backups, multiple internet trunk lines, and enterprise quality physical security.

If you’re already outsourcing your email/Exchange hosting, Office 365 is a wonderful alternative and lets Microsoft deal with the challenges of keeping email up and running 24/7/365.

Includes Desktop Copies of Microsoft Office

If an option includes the Windows copies of Office, you can install on your local machine Office 2013 copies of Microsoft Access, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Word, Lync, and InfoPath. This lets you have both the online versions of Office and the traditional non-Internet dependent local copy.

Office 365 with SharePoint and Access Web Apps with SQL Azure

Microsoft SharePointWith Office 365, the hassles of hosting and maintaining your own SharePoint site is gone. Microsoft takes care of that for you and lets you create both private and public web sites.

Microsoft Access 2013You can also enable Access Web Apps to create simple database solutions with data automatically hosted in SQL Server (SQL Azure). The data can also be shared with other applications such as the desktop version of Microsoft Access.

Office 365 Options

There are many options based on your situation:

Free Office 365 Trials

Click on these links for free 30 day trial offers (pricing below assumes a one year commitment):

  • Office 365 Enterprise E3 Trial – 25 licenses (Details)
    E3 price is regularly $20/user/month and includes the Office desktop versions. Depending on options, prices range from $4 to $22 per user/month
  • Office 365 Small Business Premium Trial – 10 licenses (Details)
    Small Business options are limited to 25 users in the organization. Premium price is $12.50/user/month, the basic without desktop copies is $5 a month
  • Office Pro Plus Trial – 25 licenses (Details)
    This is the traditional Office on the desktop without the online services. Rather than buying the licenses upfront, Microsoft now offers the ability to pay for it on a monthly basis for $12 and install it on up to 5 machines.

microsoft-dynamicsTrial for Microsoft Dynamics

We are also pleased to extend Microsoft’s trial offer for their Dynamics CRM system

Good luck and let us know about your experiences using Office 365.

Aug 26

Free Update for Total Access Analyzer 2010 and 2007

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Total Access AnalyzerTotal Access Analyzer is the most popular Microsoft Access add-in of all time. Analyzing all the objects and code in your database, Total Access Analyzer generates detailed documentation and detects 300+ ways to fix, improve, and speed up your Access applications.

We have released free updates of Total Access Analyzer 2007 and 2010 to existing customers:

The updates include the following fixes and enhancements:

  • Module Cross-Reference incorrectly listing procedures that didn’t exist when they existed
  • Improved SQL query parsing to better cross-reference table and field names passed as function parameters
  • For secure databases, document queries even when logged in without admin rights
  • Support documenting library references of long DLL file names and paths
  • Setup issues resolved for certain machines and motherboards
  • For Microsoft Access 2010’s 64-bit version, support for Windows 8

Existing customers were already notified with download instructions.

Aug 11

Speaking at the New York City Microsoft Access User Group on September 8

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On Monday September 8, 2014, at 6:30 PM, I’m the featured guest speaker for the Microsoft Access User Group in New York City.

Microsoft Corporation Headquarters
11 Times Square
8th Avenue and 41st Street (NE Corner)

Hosted at Microsoft’s offices, I’ll showcase some of our Microsoft Access products. I’ll also answer any questions about my experiences with technology, media, and business.

Join me at this free event. More details to follow. Link to other Upcoming Events.

Aug 01

Total Access Statistics Ships for Microsoft Access 2013

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Total Access StatisticsTotal Access Statistics is the most advanced data analysis program for Microsoft Access. It extends the power of Microsoft Access queries with a wide range of statistical calculations including percentiles, frequency distributions, correlations, regressions, rankings, running totals, financial cash flow analysis, data normalization, crosstabs with Chi-Square, t-Tests, ANOVA, non-parametrics, probabilities, and more.

Total Access Statistics is now available for Microsoft Access 2013. Total Access Statistics 2013 includes many enhancements since the prior release of Total Access Statistics 2010:

  • Support for the 32 and 64 bit versions of Access 2013 with separate add-ins for each
  • New redistributable runtime libraries to support Access 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003
  • Support for Windows 8 (and all Windows versions supported by Access)
  • Improved performance when analyzing large data sets
  • For Percentiles, when assigning percentile values to a field in your table, you can specify calculations such as quartiles, quintiles, octiles, deciles, etc. rather than just percentile
  • Field format is set to Percent for percentage fields in the Frequency, Crosstab (when percentages are in columns), and Chi-Square details tables
  • When tables are generated from the add-in, the field column widths are resized to show the entire field name and data
  • Updated user manual and help file

Here’s a complete list of new features. For more information visit these resources:

Jul 10

Microsoft Access Class Not Registered Run-time Error -2147221164 (80040154) Class Not Registered

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This error occurs in a Microsoft Access database that seems to work fine on every other machine but one. The MS Access database actually loads and runs, so the code is compiled and functional. Then it dies on some very common code such as CurrentProject.Connection for ADO to open a table or query recordset:

Microsoft Access "Class Not Registered" Run-time Error -2147221164 (80040154)

Confusion

The “Class Not Registered” is very confusing. It implies code that won’t compile or broken library references but that’s not the true cause. Is the Access database corrupt? No.

We’ve received reports for this error for years and were never able to reproduce it. We finally did and figured out why it occurs and how to fix it. Read our new paper Microsoft Access “Class Not Registered” Run-time Error ‘-2147221164 (80040154) to learn more.

Jun 06

Total Access Emailer Ships for Microsoft Access 2013

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Total Access EmailerTotal Access Emailer is the most popular email automation program for Microsoft Access. It simplifies the sending of personalized emails with Access data and reports to everyone on your list.

Total Access Emailer is now available for Microsoft Access 2013. Total Access Emailer 2013 includes many enhancements since the prior release of Total Access Emailer 2010 and the Version x.6 for pre-Access 2010 versions:

  • Enhanced setup for Windows 8 and 64-bit installations
  • Supports differences in VBA code between Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010
  • Improved support for linked tables in SQL Server and Access databases including situations when connections are lost
  • User interface improvements to better manage editing and duplicating email blast specifications
  • Professional Version VBA library detects if the user’s machine has not run the runtime distribution EXE
  • Improved display of record counts for repeating multiple email blast broadcasts
  • Improved error handing and reporting
  • Updated user manual and help file

Here’s a complete list of new features.

download-trial-blueDownload the free trial version and send your own personalized emails from Microsoft Access.

Apr 14

Microsoft Access Videos from the SharePoint Conference

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Microsoft Access ProductsMicrosoft SharePointThe Microsoft Access team has released videos of their presentations at the SharePoint Conference from Las Vegas, NV.

With Access 2013, Access web solutions are hosted in SharePoint and rather than using SharePoint lists as they did in Access 2010, they use a real SQL Server database hosted in SQL Azure. The database can also be linked from desktop copies of Access to create hybrid solutions that serve both the web and Windows.

The Microsoft Access program managers presented these four sessions:

Enjoy!

Other Videos from FMS

Mar 22

Total Visual Agent Ships for Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010

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Microsoft Access Database SchedulerTotal Visual Agent for Microsoft Access DatabasesAutomate Microsoft Access Database Compact and Other Chores

We are very pleased to announce that Total Visual Agent 2013 is now shipping.

Don’t Forget System Administration for Microsoft Access Database Solutions

A professional Microsoft Access database application needs ongoing system administration. It’s an area that many MS Access developers neglect and causes problems when things go wrong (database corruption, missing backups, disaster recovery, etc.):

Enterprise Quality System Administration with Audit Logs and Email Alerts

Total Visual Agent has provided an Enterprise Quality solution for almost 20 years by giving organizations a reliable way to perform their critical tasks on a 24/7, 365 days a year basis. A detailed audit log documents each action that is performed, and sends emails if errors are encountered.

Schedule Events, Databases, and Actions to Perform

Total Visual Agent automates and schedules Microsoft Access tasks. It ensures repetitive tasks are completed reliably. Tasks such as database compact and repair, zipped backups, rolling backups (e.g. 7 copies for each day of the week), running macros, running Windows command lines, making copies of table data, collecting database statistics such as size and record counts, etc. Easily schedule tasks for the middle of the night and know they’ll be completed.

Events can be scheduled every X minutes, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or just one time. You can specify the days of week and time periods that it runs to limit processing to off-hours. Select the databases and directories (including subdirectories) to manage with support for workgroup security and database passwords.

Includes a Windows Service for Secure Processing and Reliability

Once defined, the events and tasks can be run by our Monitor program that is a standard Windows program.

Alternatively, Total Visual Agent includes a Windows Service, so you can run your tasks without having anyone logged on the machine. The Windows service is a more secure, robust solution since it can automatically restart if the machine reboots.

New Features in the 2013 Version

A huge number of new features were added in this 2013 release from the previous 2007 version:

  • Microsoft Access 2013Support for Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010, plus 2007
  • Support for 64 bit Operating Systems
  • Simplified Startup and Easier Management of Multiple Microsoft Access Versions
  • Import Settings from Multiple Versions of Total Visual Agent
  • Test All Actions for an Event, Database, Directory or Task Group
  • Create Events that Run Every X Minutes
  • Create Events that are Limited to Periods Spanning Midnight
  • Process Directories with Managed Databases
  • Data Extract Tables are Keyed
  • Run Macros for Database Password Protected Databases
  • Pause for a Fractional Minute
  • Compressed Archive File Names Support Multiple Extensions
  • More Detailed Activity History Log with Deletions
  • More Detailed Database Statistics with Deletions
  • Add Your Comments to Events, Directories, and Actions
  • Simplified Addition of New Actions
  • More Modern and Improved User Interface
  • New User Manual and Help File

For complete list, visit New Features in Total Visual Agent 2013.

Download a Free Trial Version

A fully functional trial version is available for download so you can run it on your system with your databases.

Contact Us

  • Visit our Support Site if you would like to submit any questions to our technical support team.
  • Place an order online. Existing customers can upgrade at a discounted price.
Aug 07

Microsoft Access and Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Enhancements and Issues

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New Paper: Microsoft Access and Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Enhnacements and Issues

Microsoft has released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Microsoft Office 2010. It includes enhancements to Access, Excel, Groove, Office. Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, SharePoint, Visio, Word, and more.

Read our new paper listing:

  • Links to the Download and List of Enhancements
  • List of Updated Products
  • Microsoft Access Enhancements and Fixes:
    • Microsoft Access Object Issues
    • Repair and Compact Issues
    • Microsoft Excel Related Issues
    • Access Web/SharePoint Issues
    • Windows 8 64-bit Issue
    • Runtime Version
  • Known Issues from Microsoft
  • A Confirmed Bug between MS Access 2010 and SharePoint 2013
  • Additional Resources for Microsoft Office and Office 2010 SP1
Jul 09

Microsoft Access 2013 Features, Changes, Resources and Runtime Release

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Microsoft Access 2013Microsoft Access 2013 Features

Microsoft has published a variety of resources to discuss the new features of Microsoft Access 2013.

Free Runtime Version Available

The Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime enables you to distribute Access 2013 applications to users who do not have the full version of Access 2013 installed on their computers. The Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime Download is available in 38 languages!

Note that due to the many deprecated features in Access 2013, we would recommend developers to stick to the Access 2010 runtime version unless you’re deploying to an environment that has already migrated to Office 2013.

Additional Resources

FMS Products for Microsoft Access 2013

We are busily enhancing our products for Access 2013. Access 2013 versions are already shipping for Total Visual Agent, Total Access Emailer, Total Access Speller, and Total Access Statistics.