MSACCESS 2003 Fails After SP2 Update

If you'd like, reference my case: SRX050929601978.

Michael

"Jon Abbott" wrote:

wrote:
I was able to reproduce this problem in an isolated domain without any
difficulty. Microsoft also has been able to duplicate this problem.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to convince them so far that this problem
is extremely serious and warrants an immediate fix---from my perspective they
have disabled 100% of the MS 2003 Access copies in use with service pack 2 if
deployed through an Active Directory GPO. If I were in their position, I'd
be working overtime to solve this problem.

Michael

I Agree, it's a major fault and it doesn't look like MS did any QA on
deployment of SP2 through Admin installs.

I'm going to raise a bug report on Monday and get it escalated. In the
meantime, I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with the package, to speed
the process up.

The problem with MS is that they only tend to fix issues when enough people
complain, so if anyone else is having the same problem, log a fault with MS.

Jon

Have you reported this or heard anything from Microsoft?

Michael

"Jon Abbott" wrote:

wrote:
I was able to reproduce this problem in an isolated domain without any
difficulty. Microsoft also has been able to duplicate this problem.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to convince them so far that this problem
is extremely serious and warrants an immediate fix---from my perspective they
have disabled 100% of the MS 2003 Access copies in use with service pack 2 if
deployed through an Active Directory GPO. If I were in their position, I'd
be working overtime to solve this problem.

Michael

I Agree, it's a major fault and it doesn't look like MS did any QA on
deployment of SP2 through Admin installs.

I'm going to raise a bug report on Monday and get it escalated. In the
meantime, I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with the package, to speed
the process up.

The problem with MS is that they only tend to fix issues when enough people
complain, so if anyone else is having the same problem, log a fault with MS.

Jon

How do we report this problem to Microsoft?
What is the best way?
Is there a web site for it?


"Michael" wrote:

Have you reported this or heard anything from Microsoft?

Michael

"Jon Abbott" wrote:

wrote:
I was able to reproduce this problem in an isolated domain without any
difficulty. Microsoft also has been able to duplicate this problem.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to convince them so far that this problem
is extremely serious and warrants an immediate fix---from my perspective they
have disabled 100% of the MS 2003 Access copies in use with service pack 2 if
deployed through an Active Directory GPO. If I were in their position, I'd
be working overtime to solve this problem.

Michael

I Agree, it's a major fault and it doesn't look like MS did any QA on
deployment of SP2 through Admin installs.

I'm going to raise a bug report on Monday and get it escalated. In the
meantime, I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with the package, to speed
the process up.

The problem with MS is that they only tend to fix issues when enough people
complain, so if anyone else is having the same problem, log a fault with MS.

Jon

I've already reported it using telephone support.

They are currently working on a hotfix to the problem. When they have it
done, I'll post a message concerning it. That maybe another month or so.

Michael

"Daniel Vaudrin @ pre2post.com" wrote:

How do we report this problem to Microsoft?
What is the best way?
Is there a web site for it?


"Michael" wrote:

Have you reported this or heard anything from Microsoft?

Michael

"Jon Abbott" wrote:

wrote:
I was able to reproduce this problem in an isolated domain without any
difficulty. Microsoft also has been able to duplicate this problem.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to convince them so far that this problem
is extremely serious and warrants an immediate fix---from my perspective they
have disabled 100% of the MS 2003 Access copies in use with service pack 2 if
deployed through an Active Directory GPO. If I were in their position, I'd
be working overtime to solve this problem.

Michael

I Agree, it's a major fault and it doesn't look like MS did any QA on
deployment of SP2 through Admin installs.

I'm going to raise a bug report on Monday and get it escalated. In the
meantime, I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with the package, to speed
the process up.

The problem with MS is that they only tend to fix issues when enough people
complain, so if anyone else is having the same problem, log a fault with MS.

Jon

"=?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbA==?=" wrote:
Have you reported this or heard anything from Microsoft?

Michael



Yes, case ref: SRQ051104601770 (MS UK). I've linked it to your case.

I'm speaking to them at the moment, which is proving a stuggle because you're
case is in the US! UK and US don't seem to talk!

Jon

"=?Utf-8?B?RGFuaWVsIFZhdWRyaW4gQCBwcmUycG9zdC5jb20=?="
m wrote:
How do we report this problem to Microsoft?
What is the best way?
Is there a web site for it?


No, you have to call them.

US: 0800 9364900
UK: 0870 6010100

Have your credit card ready as you'll get charged ~£50 for the privilage of
reporting a bug to them!

Jon

They don't even communicate within responsibility layers within the US,
muchless between the US and UK.

Did they tell you anything significant? Did they mention they were working
on a hotfix?

Michael

They did find that if you use per-machine installations rather than per-user
installations, the install will work---we don't do that. They also found it
has something to do with the registry entries for Jet. They gave me a
workaround where you could import the Jet entries from a working system and
get the broken system to work. Who has time for that???

How long did it take you on the telephone? I spent almost an entire working
day on the telephone in a single call attempting to convince them they (not
me) actually had a problem (maybe I do have time to do the import). That
runs the cost much higher than £50.

"Jon Abbott" wrote:

"=?Utf-8?B?TWljaGFlbA==?=" wrote:
Have you reported this or heard anything from Microsoft?

Michael



Yes, case ref: SRQ051104601770 (MS UK). I've linked it to your case.

I'm speaking to them at the moment, which is proving a stuggle because you're
case is in the US! UK and US don't seem to talk!

Jon

They did find that if you use per-machine installations rather than per-user
installations, the install will work---we don't do that. They also found it
has something to do with the registry entries for Jet. They gave me a
workaround where you could import the Jet entries from a working system and
get the broken system to work. Who has time for that???

How long did it take you on the telephone? I spent almost an entire working
day on the telephone in a single call attempting to convince them they (not
me) actually had a problem (maybe I do have time to do the import). That
runs the cost much higher than £50.


I can probably fix it myself based on that information. More later...

I spent 45 mins on the phone, first logging it through the US - who refused to
do anything about it because the product is being used in the UK - explaining
that the US would have to fix it didn't get anywhere! I then called the UK and
logged it, which took forever trying to spell everything out to their Indian
call center - that's the frustrating part over!

I asked to be put through to the Office team, to go through the detail. I
explained to them that the MSI package had problems with entries in the
Advertising tables, as the product installs manually okay. I also explained
the symptoms, how to reproduce it etc.

Anyway, cutting a long an tedious story short. I went through your SRX call
with them, they seem to have made quite a bit of progress with it, but were
nowhere near a solution.

I wouldn't expect a solution anytime soon, Microsoft and I are still working on
a bug in Excel 2003, where files don't always save as their filename, they end
up as 8 char random alphanumeric filenames. We've been working on it for over
a year now, and I'm still not convinced we'll have a solution this year!

Back to your description of the problem. If it's entries within the Jet
engine, I presume they've given you either some files or a registry fix. If
you can post which files they arel and paste any reg files in, that will help
me. I know what the problem is, just pinning it down within the acc11.msi file
is a nightmare, because it's a very poorly created. I've done debugging on it,
which didn't really get me anyware.

I'll look at the Jet engine advertising sections over the weekend and run some
tests whilst I await your info. If I can pin it down, I can create an MST that
you can apply through Orca to the MSI to fix it. I suspect it's probably just
one registry entry that's at fault, that's usually the cause if this issue.

Jon

Jon:

I'm pasting what they told me to do with the registry below:

Import the Jet registry key from a working computer. The following registry
key can be exported from a computer that is not exhibiting the problem (a
“good� computer) and imported to a computer that is exhibiting the problem.
This will correct the issue. As always, great care should be taken when
working with the Windows registry, as some changes could render Windows
unusable. Both machines need to have the same OS and the “good� machine
should have Office 2003 SP2 installed and working properly (i.e. Access
launches normally). If a “good� computer does not currently exist, once can
be created by installing Office 2003 from a CD, or another source other than
a user policy, and then patched to the SP2 level.

I'm more optimistic and hope a hotfix will be available shortly. They have
to get this problem solved because they're going to get hammered on it if
they don't. My history with them is hard to understand. Sometimes I get a
hotfix very easily and quickly; othertimes, I beg for one to solve a problem
that seriously affects me and I am totally ignored.

Michael