yikes! freeze during compact on close

[AndyTilia]

Hi - I have an Access 2000 database (~5 MB) and ever since I checked the "compact on close" box a couple weeks ago, the application freezes about 50% of the time I close the db. This happens after all of the open forms are closed, but before the compaction occurs.

Eh?? Anyone know what is going on??

Sometimes this freeze looks like this: the application responds to nothing, other apps work during the freeze, and when I open the task-manager to stop it, it is running 100%.

Other times, the freeze is similar, but the mouse pointer is flashing back and forth from being a pointer to being an hourglass.

It is important for the db to autocompact after use because its size seems to expand enormously (from compacted 5MB to 12 or 15MB after mild use)

Any ideas??? (btw: I tried to search for answers to this on the tek-tips site, but didnt come up with anything-- unclear on what search terms to use-- maybe someone could just tell me: go look at post X or Y)

Much thanks in advance!!

Andy

 

[Quehay]

Are there any other users? Are you on a network? Access can't compact if they're in there. This is why you'll see "db1.mdb" files in your folder--they are a new compacted version of your db that can't be renamed because the original can't be deleted while others have an LDB file in place.

Suggestion: If the db isn't split into FE / BE try doing this, and just compact the back end; see if it doesn't run more smoothly.

*A little known feature of the compact in a front end is that all of your queries have to be compiled again the next time that you run them.

 

[AndyTilia]

Quehay-

Thanks for your thoughts.

No there are no others users, no network-- just me.

I tried the FE/BE split a little while ago and it seemed to slow things down, but I wasnt having the freeze-on-compact problem then (I wasnt doing the auto compact, just manual, so I must have just been compacting the FE then)

I'll try the split again and see if that helps. How do I automatically compact only the back end ?

Also- I dont understand the implications of your comment about queries being compiled again after a FE compact. Does this mean that I should avoid compacting the FE? Because I have a number of forms and subforms, most of which are based on queries, could the re-compiling (after compacting unsplit db, so queries included) be why my db gets so big after I do just a little work in it (see above re: 5MB -> ~12MB)??

Thanks again, Quehay.
-Andy