Forum Discussion
Error message 'Microsoft Access can't open the form 'Temp.''
I work with an Access database designed 30 years ago with which I've had no problems with until today. Suddently, when I try to run some functions (crosstab query or design a query) I'm getting this error message:
"Microsoft Access can’t open the form ’temp.’
It contains data that Microsoft Access doesn’t recognize.
Re-create the form or, if you maintain backup copies of your database, retrieve a copy of the form.’"
Sometimes the query has time to run before the message appears but once it does, the application freezes. Click OK or close the box or press Escape, the result is the same: Access closes.
The form 'temp' isn't one I've created and doesn't appear on the preview pane. I can highlight it using 'analyze performance' under 'database tools' but then I get an error message 'Application-defined or object-defined error' and again the application closes.
Exactly the same messages appear when I try to run archived versions of the database which I'd not opened or altered for months - so I think it's an interface issue between the design of my database and a freshly updated version of Access?
I've tried the obvious (compact and repair, safe mode, re-downloading Office 365) but nothing changes this. I have tried creating a new very simple database and can run cross-tab queries in that OK.
We 've t'he same problem un som PC . T'he DB os not corrupte becose some users on Other PC can access perfectly. It hapens suddenly. I think it must be an windows/office update. It began on October 31st
- This sounds like the Access file (probably an mdb if it's 30 years old) has been corrupted. The error message is telling you how to recover from this problem. However, the name of the form in question, "Temp", suggests it is intended to be a temporary object. And that means inspecting the VBA in this mdb to see if you can figure out where and how it is instantiated.
It may actually be hidden in the Navigation Pane, by the way, which explains why you don't see it. However, the fact that Access closes means it's probably corrupted in any event.
I think the problem with your archived versions could be that this corruption was present for some time. That's happened to others before.
Another thing that error message suggests could also be the problem.
"It contains data that Microsoft Access doesn’t recognize."
Sometimes it does happen. When a database is created, we expect data to be in a certain format, with certain datatypes. Over time, that can change and newly encountered data no longer meets original expectations. You can eliminate that as a possibility by reviewing recent data.Thanks George.
It can't simply be an issue of a corrupted file since everything was working fine until Saturday, and there's no way that (several) archived copies of the database sitting on my hard drive could also have corrupted themselves simultaneously in exactly the same way. But it does seem to be some kind of interface issue between the very old design of parts of the database, and MS Access (after the last set of updates...?)
Two odd things are: running any cross-tab query seems to generate the error message, but you can see on the screen behind the error message that the query has in fact had time to run correctly before the error message pops up. Secondly, once the error message is there, however you respond, Access just shuts itself down (with no more messages and no 'error report' generated). Sometimes if you relaunch it it opens in 'safe mode', sometimes it doesn't.
- That definitely sounds like corruption to me.
Either that or your newest data includes one or more values that are not within the range or datatype expected by the crosstab.
That sad, you can repair Access, or even reinstall it, to see whether that clears up the problem.
