Question : Data loss using an Access 2000 database in Access 2007

I have an Access 2000 database that is losing data under a very specific sequence of events, but I believe the issue is due to some incompatibility with the Form design in 2007.

Some setup details:

The data itself is in a MySQL 5.1 database, set up as a Linked Table through the MySQL ODBC connector.

I have 5 users on Access 2000 without incident and one user on Access 2007.  For this 2007 user I have tried converting the database file to 2007 format, but the error persists.

The error itself:

This form is for contact management, each page is a new entry in a single table.  Entering data in a field and then either clicking another field or moving to a new/different record is supposed to trigger an update statement.  In 2000 this happens, but in 2007 it does not, but *only* after what appears to be a timeout period.  Moving to a new field seems to never work, but if this user does not move to a different entry, often as a result of switching to a browser window, the entry's data is lost and an error: "Update or CancelUpdate without AddNew or Edit."

Timeout values appear to the be same between 2000 and 2007, and I don't know how to get any debugging information so whatever you need to see let me know how to generate it.

Answer : Data loss using an Access 2000 database in Access 2007

<I don't know what "FE" means, but in case that is the MDB, everyone shares a single file with no row locking (which is probably bad and a different issue).>

"FE" means "Front End". A shared Access database should be split into a Backend (the tables only) and a FrontEnd (everything else), and each user should be given a COPY of the FE to install on their workstation. Each of those copies should be "linked" to a common Backend, so that all users can share data.

Trying to run a single file, shared among users, is tricky enough when all users are running the same version of Access. Things get much, much more difficult when you throw different versions into that mix, and trying to mix 2007 with ANY earlier version is simply asking for trouble. 2007 and earlier builds cannot run compatibly side-by-side, and one of the unfortunate effects of this is data loss (and I've experienced it myself when 07 first came out).

The fix is to do as I said earlier: Provide each user with their own copy of the FE, and you won't have to worry with who is using what version. In your case, since your data in on a MySQL server, you'd simply make copies of your current app and distribute those to users.