2007 SP1 is Ready!!

Published 11 December 07 09:40 PM

At last, the long wait is over, get yours today!  I definitely recommend this upgrade to all 2007 users.  The team has done a lot of work to improve performance, security, and stability over the original release, which you can get a hold of by installing the SP. 

Once you've got it, please let us know what you think!

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Comments

# Khuzema said on December 12, 2007 2:11 AM:

Can we get a list of improvements that affects access and access runtime.

thanks

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 2:37 AM:

Not a good start for me. All seemed to install correctly. Ran A2007 OK then switched to A2002 and back again to see if the 4 minute delay while A2007 re-jigs itself had been reduced. Took about the same time and then told me it needed to reboot, but then told me I couldn't exit Access (2007) at that point. Took the offered option of forcing A2007 closed and packed up for the night.

This morning, I launched A2007 and it went through its usual 4 minute rejig and then told me it needed to reboot. I said OK, but then it told me it couldn't close Access 2007 just like last night. This time I clicked Cancel and it spent some cancelling whatever it needed to cancel. Am about to reboot to see what state my PC is in. Will keep you informed....

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 3:41 AM:

WOW, thanks Microsoft. My PC is now in an endless loop. Have rebooted my PC again (see previous post) then launched Access 2007. It has started its 4 minute reconfiguration routine again. That's the third time in total.

When I come back from kicking, I mean walking, the dog, I shall re-install Access 2007.

Not impressed.

Further notes. Got a warning about a serious error with my Adobe Acrobat PDF add-in thingy (not the Microsoft one), which I disabled when launching Access.

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 9:00 AM:

My Access 2007 is now unusable. Following on from my previous post, I tried reparing Office 2007. I still got the interminable reconfiguring whenever I launched a database in Access 2007. Next I uninstalled Office 2007, reinstalled it, closed all the processes I dared close, then installed SP1 again. I still got the reconfiguring whenver I tried opening a database in Access 2007. Next I uninstalled Office 2007 again and did not install SP1. I still get the reconfiguration messages. Lastly I tried cancelling the message, only to get a Windows Update message. Cancelled that too. Tried opening a database again. Some minutes later the database opened but reported errors. Tried another database and up comes the reconfiguration window again. Since this takes 5 minutes now, I shall cancel this.

Brilliant. Looks like I shall have to reinstall Vista. What a farce!

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 9:08 AM:

Perhaps I should have twigged that something would be wrong when I saw that:

1) Originally the page Zac links to said that the SP was for a range of programs inc. Frontpage 2007! This reference has now been removed.

2) The link from that page to the list of things SP1 sorted out was not working last night (it is now).

3) Now that that link is working the Excel spreadsheet which is meant to list the things done in SP1 is currently unavailable.

4) The page that is meant to show you how to overcome the interminable rebooting contains a significant typo which shows that it has not been checked problem. On this last score, it may be me (quite likely) but the set up for logging the cause of the problem does not work on my Vista machine.

# Alan Brown said on December 12, 2007 9:29 AM:

SP1 installed without problems and my application runs fine. I am also pleased with a slight reduction (maybe 5%) in the source (.mdb) and compiled code (ade version).

Well Done!

# Fred Boer said on December 12, 2007 9:38 AM:

I've installed SP1 on two computers without incident. Time to switch between Access 2003 and Access 2007 is about 25-30 seconds. Yay! I can use both programs on one machine again!

(Windows XP Professional/Access 2003/Access 2007)

# Anthony Wieser said on December 12, 2007 9:43 AM:

It installed fine on my Vista machine, but I'm disappointed to see that editing a query simply by resizing a column in an access 2000 mdb file corrupts the file such that it can no longer be opened in access 2000.  Unfortunately, that's a bit of a show stopper for me.

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 9:54 AM:

Have found that one of the files I was attempting to open is now corrupted. Access tells me I need to delete the VBA project. Joy.

Windows Vista Home Premium / Access 2002/ Access 2007.

# Zac Woodall said on December 12, 2007 12:40 PM:

Alan: It seems like you've got something strange going on in your system.  We definitely tested your scenario, and it worked well under our test environments.  Your experience is definitely not something we have seen, at least not on the Access team.  Would you send me mail so that we can follow up?

Anthony: Could you answer a couple questions?

1) What do you mean by 'corrupt'?  That word is usually used to describe a document with invalid binary code that can no longer be loaded and run correctly by any version of Access.  If I understand correctly this file still works in 2007 (please let me know if this isn't the case).  

2) If you're reading and editing a file in the 2000 file format, you should have no problems editing queries.  Would it be possible for you to send me an email with detailed reproduction steps that you know cause this behavior, and describe the expected and actual results?  

# Alan Cossey said on December 12, 2007 1:12 PM:

Zac,

After 7 hours of fiddling around with installing Access 2007 and the SP and trying System Restore (it failed), I uninstalled my Access 2002 then uninstalled Access 2007 followed by reinstalling Access 2007 (it worked) and then the SP, which worked. Oh the relief...

Pity I can't use Access 2002 on my PC now, but I'll settle for what I have got and will design stuff in Access 2007 followed by testing using Virtual PC before sending any .mdb's to my clients.

I'll send you an e-mail with a more structured explanation of what happened today.

Alan

# Vladimir Cvajniga said on December 12, 2007 1:25 PM:

Khuzema: http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/C/F/BCFBEC81-ED9E-40A3-BBF0-1410B67A365A/Office%202007%20Service%20Pack%201%20Changes_all.xls

linked from

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936982

# Gary Smith said on December 12, 2007 2:34 PM:

Noted that SP1 patched the issue with date modified timestamps not being updated on form and report design. That's great news.

But a major roadblock for me in deploying an Access 2007 (ACCDB) version of my applications has been the issue of reports losing their specific printer setups (reports always revert to default printer).

I was hoping for a fix in SP1. Can you give us any news on a timeline for fixing this problem?

Thanks for any info.

Gary

# Justin said on December 12, 2007 4:20 PM:

Hi Zac,

Is there any solution for my issue? SP1 doesn't fix it. Here it is:

http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=138920

# Stuart said on December 12, 2007 4:37 PM:

"If you assign the Control Source of text boxes in Report_Open, you may crash Access 2007 if the report is more than one page long. (Similar to kb 927536, but is issue not limited to Layout View.)"

This mega-bug is patched by SP1?

Bye

# Zac Woodall said on December 12, 2007 9:27 PM:

Gary:

Do you have more info on this one?  I want to be sure I answer your question correctly.  What are the repro steps that don't work for you?

Justin:

-Great Bug- This is the first I've seen of it.

Stuart:

We did fix a bug here, though without more detail I can't be sure it is your bug.  Please take a look and let me know if this works for you.

# Brian said on December 12, 2007 10:56 PM:

Good/Bad

Love the new filters, look, and revised GUI.  Having a filtering problem though.  Used the Wizard to create a Command Button to Open a Form and to find specific data to display (filter), but it would not filter at all.  It returned zero records.  Both tables have valid indexed and same numeric values in their columns.  Worked great in 2003, but is cumbersome here.  

# Anthony Wieser said on December 13, 2007 1:13 AM:

I've sent you an email with the email button on the blog, but here's the short version:

> 1) What do you mean by 'corrupt'?

After changing the width of a column in a query in access 2007, and saving, when you try to open the same query in access 2000, access 2000 disappears from the screen without an error message, and it's process exits.  The file can still be edited in access 2007 though.

> Would it be possible for you to send me an email with detailed reproduction steps that you know cause this behavior, and describe the expected and actual results?

Done in the email.

Anthony Wieser

# Peter Schmidt said on December 13, 2007 8:20 AM:

Have installed the update on a couple of machines without a hitch. Is the runtime version going to be updated too?

# Gary Smith said on December 13, 2007 9:07 AM:

Thanks Zac.

Here's how to reproduce the specific-printer selection problem:

1) Open any report in design view

2) On the ribbon open the Page Setup dialog

3) On the Page tab select "Use Specific Printer" and open the Printer dialog

4) From the printer selection dropdown, select any printer (other than default printer)

5) Click OK twice to close Page Setup dialogs and return to report design view

6) Click Save and then close the report

7) Reopen the report in design view and open Page Setup dialog

8) Under the Page tab, note that specific printer selection has been lost (printer has been reset to Defualt)

# Mark Jones said on December 13, 2007 12:19 PM:

FWIW, I've installed the service pack on one machine without any problems so far. Might be an illusion, but it seems quicker exiting and compacting, and converting to older versions.

Still crashes when right clicking on various objects, paricularly if the focus isn't already on the object. For example, if I go into form design and then select a combo box and right click on the RowSource in the Property Sheet - bang! Well, not literally. Have to remember to use the ellipsis...

# J. B. Tome Jr said on December 13, 2007 12:57 PM:

Brian said on December 12, 2007 10:56 PM:

Brian, be sure to put the line 'Me.FilterOn = True' after the line 'Me.filter = ...". This solve the same problem I had in my 2003 apps.

# Zac Woodall said on December 13, 2007 2:21 PM:

Anthony:

This sounds like it might be the corruption issue in Vista offline folders.  There is a bug in the Vista file I/O code which makes Access databases corrupt in offline folders.  We've fixed this with the combination of Vista SP1 and Office 2007 SP1.  Until you can install both, I recommend against using databases in offline folders (the corrtuption is easier to hit with 2007, but you can still hit it with older versions).  

Peter:

It looks like we're going to put the SP1 bits for the runtime into the upcomming runtime patch.  That patch will also address the import/export issues, adp issues, and other problems we've got feedback from customers on.  

Gary:

I see this behavior in RTM, but it is fixed for me in SP1.  I wonder what is different about your scenario.

Mark:

If you have a consistent set of steps that reproduces a crash in SP1, please send it to me!

# Gary Smith said on December 13, 2007 4:04 PM:

Regarding what might be different...

I'm running Office 2007-SP1 (no other versions of Office installed) on an XP machine.

But also tested and found this behavior on an XP machine that has both Office 97 and Office 2007-SP1 installed.

Report-specific printer assignments are being lost on both machines. Printer reverts to default after selecting specific printer using steps I outlined in the previous post.

# Vladimir Cvajniga said on December 13, 2007 7:26 PM:

Is it possible to go to "classic view" instead of that ribbon stuff in SP1?

# Alan Cossey said on December 14, 2007 1:55 AM:

Got a KB alert this morning which tells of a problem with SP1 which means that compiled databases (.mde, .accde) and compiled projects (.ade) created with SP1 cannot be opened by non-SP1 Access 2007. It doesn't mention what happens if you try to open, say, a .mde in Access 2002/3, but it doesn't sound good (Can't try it as I lost A2002 to my SP1 installation....).

See http://kbalertz.com/946205/Error-message-compiled-database-compiled-project-Access-database-unrecognized.aspx

# Mark Jones said on December 14, 2007 5:20 AM:

Hi Zac

The right click crash happens on all my legacy databases, although seems OK on new databases. I could send you an accdb file based on one of our old programs that, for me, crashes in design mode on the only (normal) object in the database (a small form) as soon as any property in the Property Sheet is right clicked. I could have chosen any form in the database - they all displayed the same problem, so it doesn't look like it's a problem with the form itself.

Whilst creating this file Microsoft Office Diagnostics kicked in (noticing all the crashes!) and tried to correct the problem, without success.

Sorry, it has occurred so regularly for me, I'd assumed that it would have already been reported; perhaps not. It's easy to avoid, if one is careful with the right click.

Let me know if you want to see the file...

# Brian said on December 16, 2007 1:28 PM:

still have the same problem going from form to form in filtering.  What's interesting is I can copy the indexed number on the form I am working from, open the other form manually that I want to filter, right click on the column I want filtered on that form, then go to the "Equals" filter selection and paste or type the number in, and it will return zero records.  However, if I copy the customer number on the same form I want filtered, I can use the same process as described and it will work.  The code works fine within a form, but when you want to go between two forms / tables.  Any ideas?

# AL said on December 16, 2007 1:33 PM:

I had no problem with the SP1 installation.  

Here are some of my findings:

The switch from Ac 2003<-->2007 still takes at least 60 seconds, which is very embarrassing when I am demonstrating my Access software.  (I will continue to require Ac 2003 until all the major bugs are fixes in 2007, and especially until there is support for menubar/shortcut menu editing.)

My ADP projects still run very slowly w SP1.  I also get crashes every time I right click in my custom shortcut menu on any subform.

When I hide the ribbon, my custom menubars are displayed in the wrong vertical order, and there appears to be no way to change that.

These are all unchanged from pre-SP1.  In short, I have seen no solution to any of the above issues with SP-1.

I notice that the tab control transparency property has been fixed.  That's the only thing that I can identify that is an improvement.  But that's an important one for me.

And finally, I want to put in a plug again for ADP projects - please continue to develop and improve them.  Regardless of the MS propaganda, they are substantially faster and more secure than ODBC solutions used with accdb.  The ability to cache and assign recordset objects programmatically is a HUGE advantage for scalability and performance that is not found in accdb.  The ability to assign application roles to connections is another huge advantage for security.

# Renaud Bompuis said on December 16, 2007 10:28 PM:

The SP1 will not install on a machine that only has the Access 2007 Runtime installed.

So now, when I create compiled accde files on my development machine (upgraded to SP1), none of my customers can open their Access application, and they can't upgrade to SP1 either since most still have Office 2003 installed.

Only solution for now is to downgrade my development machine and hope that an updated Runtime will be issued soon.

So, will it?

# Wendell Bell said on December 17, 2007 9:44 AM:

Regarding the right click issue Mark noted, we're relieved to see it is happening to others.  We were operating under the assumption it was an issue with our application User Interface in combination with Vista and Access 2007.  FYI, we are using a 2002/3 format MDB with extensive use of subforms, and a right click on a subform that doesn't have focus will invariably cause a crash.  We finally resorted to telling users never to right-click since they weren't able to tell when the subform had focus.  If we can help by providing samples, please let us know.

# James Beswick said on December 17, 2007 11:57 PM:

I love you guys but working with Access is like being on some form of crack: one minute you're in heaven, the next you want to shoot yourself because NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE.

SP1 is a disaster.

Roll it back.

Shut it down.

STOP STOP STOP.

I have customers with Access Runtime 2007 and you've hosed me. F***** HOSED ME. Renaud's point above is the reason and he's absolutely right. I got upgraded against my will during the night (technologically raped, basically) and found I had SP1 the next day and now MY CUSTOMERS ALL HATE ME because nothing f****** works on their damnned SP1-less machines.

Can they get SP1? HELL NO BECAUSE THEY'RE RUNNING THE RUNTIME POS.

ARGH. Does anyone test anything anymore? PLEASE?! THROW ME A FRIGGIN BONE HERE. As I said, I love you guys but I'm f****** dying here because you shove s*** out the door and kill us a****** trying to make a decent living out of it. :-(

Today's word is poo.

# James Beswick said on December 18, 2007 1:24 AM:

Btw, to add insult to injury, there's no way to remove to offending service pack. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873125)... shows you have to do the classic Microsoft uninstall-reinstall-uninstall routine to get anywhere near real life.

If anyone at MS is listening: why do you do this to us? Why? :-(

# Craig Alexander Morrison said on December 18, 2007 4:13 AM:

Developers deploying Access 2007 applications are unwise to think that they have a stable platform on which to base any non-trivial business solution.

Access 14 will be the only service pack worth applying (hopefully).

Like Access 95 and 2000 these initial releases were not fit for deployment just for experiment and playtime. They were the early betas for Access 97 and 2002/3 respectively.

Access 14 may or may not be a fix for Access 2007 shame it won't be called SP2 and available free for all the guinea pigs (early adopters).

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About Zac Woodall

Zac is a Program Manager at Microsoft on the team designing Access’s next generation platform infrastructure. He advocates easy to use designs, organizes community efforts, and is the author of The Rational Guide to Microsoft® Office Access 2007 Templates. Zac has been working at Microsoft Corporation since 1999. Before that time, he attended the University of Idaho, from which he holds a B.S. in Computer Science.
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