Access 2013 - Cannot open a database created with a previous version of your application

Question

I have an Access database created more than 10 yrs back.

I have very important data in it & I think it can be opened in Access 2007 or earlier version. Currentl

Answer 1

You can do all these things but the underlying problem will be incompatibility with Windows updates of library files. Eventually you will have problems again. .ocx and .dll files will be clobbered and replaced: your database will not be able to cope with the new versions and it will not build or it will malfunction unexpectedly.

Answer 2

I've just used Excel 2016 to open Access 2003 tables.

1. Open a new worksheet
2. Go to Data tab
3. Click on "From Access" menu item
4. Select the database's .mdb file
5. In the "Data Link Properties" box that opens, switch to the "Provider" tab
6. Select the "Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider"
7. Click on Next
8. Reselect the database's .mdb file (it forgets it when you change Provider)
9. Click OK
10. From the Select Table dialogue that appears, choose the table you want to import.

Answer 3

You can use MDB Viewer Plus from http://www.alexnolan.net/software/mdb_viewer_plus.htm to view or edit your old version database

Answer 4

As noted in another answer, the official word from Microsoft is to open an Access 97 file in Access 2003 and upgrade it to a newer file format. Unfortunately, from now on many people will have difficulty getting their hands on a legitimate copy of Access 2003 (or any other version prior to Access 2013, or whatever the latest version happens to be).

In that case, a possible workaround would be to

• install a 32-bit version of SQL Server Express Edition, and then
• have the SQL Server import utility use Jet^* ODBC to import the tables into SQL Server.

I just tried that with a 32-bit version of SQL Server 2008 R2 Express Edition and it worked for me. Access 2013 adamantly refused to have anything to do with the Access 97 file, but SQL Server imported the tables without complaint.

At that point you could import the tables from SQL Server into an Access 2013 database. Or, if your goal was simply to get the data out of the Access 97 file then you could continue to work with it in SQL Server, or move it to some other platform, or whatever.

^*Important: The import needs to be done using the older Jet ODBC driver ...

Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)

... which ships with Windows but is only available to 32-bit applications. The Access 2013 version of the newer Access Database Engine ("ACE") ODBC driver ...

Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)

also refuses to read Access 97 files (with the same error message cited in the question).

Answer 5

For a '97 Database...

1. Open the Access 97 database in Access 2003.
2. On the Tools menu, click Database Utilities, click Convert Database, and then click to Access 2002-2003 file format.
3. Enter a name for the database, and then click Save.
4. Exit Access 2003.
5. Open the database in Access 2013.
6. On the File tab, click Save As, select Access Database (*.accdb), and then click Save As. In the Save As dialog box, click Save.

All other versions:

To convert an Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 database (.mdb) to the .accdb file format, you must first open the database by using Access 2007, Access 2010, or Access 2013, and then save it in the .accdb file format.

1. Click File, and then click Open.

2. Click the Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 database (.mdb) that you want to convert.

   NOTE If the Database Enhancement dialog box appears, the database is using a file format that is earlier than Access 2000. To continue, see the section Convert an Access 97 database to the .accdb format.

3. Click File, click Save As, and then click Save Database As.

4. Choose the Access file type, and then click Save As.

If any database objects are open when you click Save As, Access prompts you to close them prior to creating the copy. Click Yes to make Access close the objects, or click No to cancel the entire process. If needed, Access will also prompt you to save any changes.

1. In the Save As dialog box, type a file name in the File name box, and then click Save.

Access creates the copy of the database, and then opens the copy. Access automatically closes the original database.

Right from MS Office Documentation

Answer 6

If you're just seeking to pull the data out of tables contained in the mdb, use Excel and ODBC (DATA tab...Get External Data...From Other Sources...From Data Connection Wizard...Other/Advanced...Microsoft Jet X.X OLE DB Provider...pick your db...pick your table(s) and voila! Data imported. Then just save the workbook that then can be linked or imported into the newer version of Access to build a new database.