Access gives automatic configuration error when opening - won't open

[16bwhitt]

I have a client running Windows 7 - using the latest version of Access (this is the root of my problem, I think this is caused by a botched update). Every time we try to open access we get the message “automatic configuration of the current version of Microsoft access has failed. Your database may not function correctly. This can occur if you do not have the necessary permissions to install Microsoft access on this computer”

I’ve tried reinstalling in several times, making registry edits to give access priority (because apparently Lync and access share the same DLL), tried running as administration, made sure the user account is full control.

I am thinking I need to rollback Access, but, I am not sure where to get the rolled-back version from.

Any ideas, and has anyone else seen it?

Thanks!

 

[Mick]

Yeah - I have seen this with Office 2016. We wound up completely uninstalling it (using a MS tool ) then reinstalling from the Office web site. Caution: Make sure you make a note of the product ID etc before uninstalling!). I think it is caused by wonky reg entries (sorry - not sure which), but the tool makes a good job of cleaning them all out - or at least, it did for us!

 

[16bwhitt]

Yeah - I have seen this with Office 2016. We wound up completely uninstalling it (using a MS tool ) then reinstalling from the Office web site. Caution: Make sure you make a note of the product ID etc before uninstalling!). I think it is caused by wonky reg entries (sorry - not sure which), but the tool makes a good job of cleaning them all out - or at least, it did for us!

Thanks for the feedback, I've done that 3 times now, once using the online repair, one using Control Panel. and one using the easy fix tool.

 

[Mick]

We-ell....if I'm right about the reg entries, you could try a manual clean of the registry post-uninstallation. Search for any entries for 'Word' or 'Excel' or 'Access' etc and nuke them. Back up first, obviously. Doesn't sound as if you've got a lot to lose. I'm assuming here that this an installation of Office we're talking about, not an Access stand-alone?

 

[16bwhitt]

We-ell....if I'm right about the reg entries, you could try a manual clean of the registry post-uninstallation. Search for any entries for 'Word' or 'Excel' or 'Access' etc and nuke them. Back up first, obviously. Doesn't sound as if you've got a lot to lose. I'm assuming here that this an installation of Office we're talking about, not an Access stand-alone?

Correct, which makes it a pain because I just can't uninstall Access, I gotta uninstall the whole suite and reinstall the whole suite.

There seems to be a growing topic on MS forums about this: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...utomatic/43a2f5f7-0ced-4bed-8f0a-8c75bd76c7e7

 

[Mick]

Oh yeah - did you notice this in that thread: "I also faced this issue yesterday.... the MS Support Team uninstalled Office 365 and then reinstalled it.... all Products worked perfectly except MS Access... as per the MS Support Team .. I now need to contact the Product Team to resolve this issue.... however today I downloaded the Microsoft Database Engine 2016 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920 ..... MS Access is working perfectly fine...."

Maybe worth a shot?

 

[Archon Prime]

There seems to be a growing topic on MS forums about this: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...utomatic/43a2f5f7-0ced-4bed-8f0a-8c75bd76c7e7

Another one here too: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...rsion-of/1738b26a-96ff-49d2-bdbb-5b646c446f4d