Access 2010 - Missing Reference

[hlewton]

I have a few Access databases that were created and work perfectly in Access 2003. I never knew much about Access but stumbled around a little to get basically what I needed and then a fellow I used to work with did the programing for me to make these databases do all the nice things I knew they could. So what I am trying to say is I knew very little about Access to begin with and have forgotten most if now since I have not had to use it to create any databases in the last 5 or 6 years.

All my databases open and work perfectly in Access 2010 except for 1 of them and with it I get the following error message:

Your phone book data base or project contains a missing or broken reference to the file, ‘dao2535.tlb’ version 3.5.

*To ensure that your data base or project works properly, you must fix this reference. The application you are attempting to use has a reference that it cannot resolve to an object, type library, DLL, or external data base. Either the object, type library, DLL, or data base was deleted or renamed. Examine the Available References list in the References dialog box in the Visual Basic Editor “T” for tools menu” to determine if any action is required. If you did not create this application, contact your programmer or administrator o the system.

If the reference listed in the Available References list is preceded with “MISSING:” clear the check box to remove the reference if it is no longer required. If you still need to use the reference, clear the check box for “MISSING: <reference name>” in the Available References list, then create a new reference to the file using Browse… button. If this an installed database application, you may need to reinstall or repair the application.

I really have no idea what to do but what I have done is repaired it in Access 2003, which did no good, it really wasn't broken. I have searched the computers with Access 2003 on them for the file ‘dao2535.tlb’ and found none.

Then I tried following the above instructions and found 2 items in the references with the word "MISSING:" in front of them but have no idea how to fix it. They are:

MISSING: Microsoft DAO 2.5/3.5 Compatibility Library (There may have been more to this one but I couldn't read anything past the word Library.)

MISSING: Utility: MDA

Any ideas how I can fix this problem?

Thanks

[HansV]

Try the following:

- Activate the Visual Basic Editor (press Alt+F11 from Access).
- Select Tools | References...
- Clear the check boxes of the references starting with "MISSING:".
- Scroll down the list until you see "Microsoft Office 14.0 Access Database Engine Object".
- Tick the check box for this reference.
- Click OK.

The Access Database Engine is the successor to the DAO object library used in older versions of Access.
Hopefully, your database will work OK now.

[hlewton]

Thanks Hans that worked for that session but when I closed it and went back in it did the same thing. I don't want to save it in the Access 2010 format so can I do a Save As after doing your suggestions and keep it an .mdb database that will work the next time I open it?

Thanks

[HansV]

I suspect that the database is in Access 95 or Access 97 format. You cannot permanently change references in those from a later version. You can save the database as an Access 2000 format database (still .mdb); it should remember the references.

[hlewton]

You may be right about when they were created. It may have been in Access 97 but for years now it has been an Access 2000 format as far as I know because I do remember allowing Access to update the database. So what do I do to make it right now because as you said I cannot save it in Access 2010 and make it remember the settings.

Thanks

[HansV]

If the database is in Access 2000 format, it should keep the references you set, unless the database is read-only. Does the title bar contain "(read-only)" when you open the database, as in the screenshot below?

x378.png

[hlewton]

No it doesn't so I guess I'm OK now. Thanks so much for the help.

[HansV]

I hope it stays OK. Don't hesitate to post back if it doesn't.

[hlewton]

OK thanks but I have to ask two more questions. I just checked all my other databases that were created about the same time and in the same fashion as the one I had problems with and they all work perfectly in Access 2010. Why would this one be any different in that it was looking for that MISSING: Utility.MDA? Could it be that I really hadn't previously updated it to the Access 2000 format as I believed I had?

Also when converting it today should I have converted it to the Access 2003 format instead of the Access 2000 one? Would that have done anything different to it as far as looking for that MISSING: Utility.MDA?

Thanks

[HansV]

The reference to Utility.mda usually isn't set by the developer, but it gets set automatically by Access in some circumstances. Apparently, this happened in one of your databases. The reference is almost never needed, so clearing its check box generally won't have a negative impact.

It doesn't really matter whether you use Access 2000 or Access 2002/2003 format; I prefer Access 2000 format because the file size is smaller and because Access 2002/2003 format doesn't have any significant advantage.

[hlewton]

Thank you very much Hans. I'm glad I chose Access 2000 format then.