The short-cut key in MS Access that can save you heart-ache and thousands of dollars

The Shift Key.

It should be on the first page of every Access how-to guide, but it is a well known secret among Access professionals.

Holding down the shift key while opening an Access file prevents forms from automatically popping up and macros from running.  Suppressing forms and macros is sometimes all that is needed to repair a database.

I had a client who was stuck on an old PC for several years because they could not convert there database from MS Access 2005 because it had a link to a DLL file that was no longer available in later versions of Access.  It turns out the missing file was not even needed, but every time the database was opened a VBA macro would launch and immediately throw an error message, and the client was stuck.  Stuck for SEVERAL YEARS.

After instructing the client to open the database while holding down the shift key, it took them all of 5 minutes to remove the reference to the missing DLL file, and the database worked smoothly thereafter on MS Access 2010 and 2013.

IT Success Stories:  True accounts of clients who overcame vexing technical issues.

About the Author:
Noah Meyer, aka The SQL Fix-It Guy, is a Denver-based database developer, trainer and coach and has spent the past two decades helping leading organizations (banks, hospitals, energy companies and government agencies) improve their reporting capabilities by fixing and fine-tuning their customized software implementations.