Viewing ACCDB with Access 2010 runtime when Access 2007 is installed

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I'm hoping someone can either tell me what I'm doing wrong correct my flawed understanding of how this works and explain why it's not possible.

I've been developing a fairly basic database/program for a client in Access. They have Office 2007, I have Office 2010. Initial test of creating a database in 2010 (in "2007" format) and opening the forms and data in Office 2007 showed no problems.

Fast forward 3 weeks. I've sent them a recent copy for approval and they can't open it. Unrecognised database format. Upon looking around, it seems Access 2007 format doesn't really mean anything in terms of backward compatibility (thanks M$). I COULD follow the seemingly standard answer and remove empty fields, calculated columns etc but really don't think it should be necessary.

I've installed the Access 2010 runtime on one of the target systems with the understanding that it would allow me to open the Access 2010-developed ACCBD. No luck. Office 2007 still launches, and "unrecognised database format".

Is the problem that Access 2007 is installed on the target system? Or am I perhaps misunderstanding what the Access runtime distribution is for? Basically, is there a way to still deploy a program/database developed in Access 2010 without a) installing (and purchasing about 60 licenses of) Office 2007, or b) stripping back the existing ACCDB.

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ms-accessms-officeruntimebackwards-compatibilityversion-compatibility

2 Answers

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I haven't worked enough with A2007 and A2010 to help with the problem of A2007 not being able to open the ACCDB in which you were working in with A2010. Your understanding of how the Access runtime is for is basically correct.

However when the client was executing the A2010 runtime against your ACCDB did they create a shortcut referencing the path to the A2010 runtime msaccess.exe and the path and file name of the ACCDB? Similar to

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE14\ART\MSACCESS.EXE" "Q:\1 access\NewsgroupAnswers.mdb"

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You can save in 2007 format from 2010 but one little known issue is that when you make changes in a 2007 access file within 2010 you will not be able to open it in 2007 again. To fix this you must create a -new- 2007 file and import all items into the fresh one (just compact and repair will not work) and then this new file should be usable within 2007 once more.