OK I've finally got it working but there must be something my OS doesn't like about the first lot of code I tried, it either crashing, freezing or giving me that initial error I had at the start.
I've ended up using the code at
combined with the following:
Private Sub backuptoexternal_Click()
Dim strFilter As String
Dim strSaveFileName As String
Dim tablefile As String
Dim todaysdate As String
Dim queryname As String
queryname = "UpdateSaveDate"
todaysdate = Date$
' setup file names with dates
tablefile = "PEDIGREE FLOCK TABLES " & todaysdate & ".mdb"
'Ask for SaveFileName
strFilter = ahtAddFilterItem(strFilter, "Access Files (*.mdb)", "*.mdb"

strSaveFileName = ahtCommonFileOpenSave(OpenFile:=False, Filter:=strFilter, _
Flags:=ahtOFN_OVERWRITEPROMPT Or ahtOFN_READONLY, FileName:=tablefile, _
DialogTitle:="SAVE PEDIGREE FLOCK FILES"

MsgBox "TABLES SAVED AS: " & strSaveFileName
FileCopy "C:\PEDIGREE FLOCK\TABLES\PEDIGREE FLOCK TABLES.mdb", strSaveFileName
DoCmd.SetWarnings (WarningsOff)
DoCmd.OpenQuery queryname, acNormal, acEdit
DoCmd.Close
End Sub
Thanks for all your time and help GKProgrammer, I've learnt a lot, and thanks for the link luceze.
Cheers
Nick