Access labels lose formatting...why? 1

[mavi91]

I've set up a database for a local school and made a number of mailing labels for them to use by selection from the switchboard. For speed and efficiency I used the Access Label Wizard. The result is always ok on first inspection, but if I go back a second time and preview the results, the formatting goes away...never to return. This occurs even if I make the label, inspect it..leave Access and then return to look for a second time! (it always gets hosed on the second look)

What's really driving me nuts is that it depends on the computer I'm using. My own office machine will create a permanent format if (and only if) I make the label, exit Access and then return. BUT, if I take the application to another machine, it goes haywire on the "second look." I think this all may have something to do with the printer driver(s) but using various approaches with local/network shared printers haven't worked so far.

Environment: MS Office Pro 2000, Windows 98, 4 machines networked through a Netgear 4 port router/switch. Two machines have a local printer, each of which is on share. Format base is Avery #8161 label.

Any thoughts as to why this is happening & how to tame it? Thanks!

 

[bethabernathy]

Hi -

There is a bug in Access 2000 which causes the printer settings to revert to the default when the "Perform Name Autocorrect" feature is enabled. To make things more strange, the problem only occurs the second time the report is previewed.

This article explains the problem.

Go to the following URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q240/8/26.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0

The quick fix is to uncheck "Perform Name Autocorrect" (Tools, Options, General Tab). The permanent fix is to download Office 2000 Service Release 1/1A (just a small 20mB download).

Beth

 

[mavi91]

Beth,

Thanks! I really appreciate the help. I had searched the MS 'base but was fixated on labels and reports, not printer settings. I am now uncertain about how 'Office works with printer settings when I'm formatting a report. I had assumed that the interaction between report format and printer settings took place at the time of printing. Now I'm not sure that this is the case. This leads to another question:

I have 4 machines networked with Office Pro on all of them. The database resides on one of the machines. Two of the machines have printers (different types). I've got the printers on share with the idea of being able to send a report from any machine to either printer. If my initial assumption about the relationship between printer settings and report formatting is incorrect, then it looks like I'm going to have unpredictable printing results with my setup. Do I have reason for concern here? Thanks again..