On Click, ask whether to Open using Access 2000 or 97

[Tinkerers]

Hi,

I have Windows 2000 and have 2 versions of Access installed, 97 and 2000. Since they both use the .mdb filename extension, when I double click an mdb file to launch it, it uses Access 97, because that's the default app as defined in the folder types.

But, I'd like it to ask me which version of Access I'd like to open the file with, when I double click the .mdb file.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[djhawthorn]

You can probably remove the association of .mdb files with Access 97, then when you double click on one of their files it will was "Open With.." - you just need to make sure you remove the tick box that says "Always use this program to open .mdb files".

File associations are setup in Windows Explorer -> Tools menu -> Options (or Folder Options) -> "File Types" tab. MCSE NT4/W2K

 

[Jocsta]

You can use right click handlers to do this.
Add 2 registry entries -

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 97\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 97 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 2000\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 2000 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;

Then you can right click on a file and there will be 2 options at the top of the menu.

<< JOC >>

 

[CoffeeBuzz]

I like Jocsta's solution. If you're not comfortable working in the registry, you can add a couple entries to the &quot;send to&quot; list. The result is opening the file by right clicking, go to &quot;send to&quot; and pick the version of Access you want.

1. Search For Files and Folders... In the field type &quot;sendto&quot; (without quotes).
2. If there are multiple profiles, locate the &quot;Sendto&quot; folder for the correct user profile and open it. Move this window aside for now.
3. In the Search window, search for &quot;msaccess.exe&quot; (without quotes). You should find two executable files, and perhaps some shortcuts associated with the executables. The icon
for Access 97 is a yellow key, the icon for Access 2000 is a purple key.
4. For both of the executables, use the right mouse button to drag the icon from the Search window to the Sendto window. From the resulting pop-up, select &quot;Create shortcut here.&quot;

Good luck.

 

[Tinkerers]

I like the idea of using the registry to set this up. But, my registry doesn't have the shell. Instead it has shellex, like this:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex
Then it has \ContextMenuHandlers\Open With\ like this:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Open With\

Then in the right pane it says default and has a bunch of characters inside brackets.

Exactly where do I put the reference to c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe ? Please be specific, as I don't have a clue about registry functions.

Thanks for any help !!!

Paul

You can use right click handlers to do this.
Add 2 registry entries -

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 97\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 97 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 2000\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 2000 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;

Then you can right click on a file and there will be 2 options at the top of the menu.

<< JOC >>

 

[Jocsta]

Simple answer is to :-
Add shell to the HKCR\* branch.

Alternatively modify the text below replacing the <path to ...> with the full path to the required programs (e.g. c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe).
Now copy the text between the two ****'s to notepad, and save it as <anything you like>.reg.
Now double click on that .reg file, and it'll insert it into the registry for you.

<< JOC >>

****
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 97\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 97 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in access 2000\command]
@=&quot;<path to the access 2000 exe> \&quot;%1\&quot;&quot;
****

 

[Tinkerers]

Thankyou for the help. I ended up doing it manually. Seems to have been a problem with long file names !

Paul