Question : MS Access 2007, External table is not in the specified format (error 3274)

We have an Access database called shipping that utilizes a linked table that is in DBF format.  The Access file itself is in an Access 2000 file format.  We recently installed Office 2007 Professional Plus on several computers.  For some of the PCs, such as mine, Access 2007 has no issues whatsoever in using the forms and pulling data from the linked table.  However, some of the other computers display the following error whenever the user tries to pull data from the linked table: "External table is not in the specified format (error 3274)".  One work around is to update the link, via the Linked Table Manager, and then the user will be able to finally pull data from the table.  However, after they close Access, the problem occurs again, and the link update has to be performed every time.  This is a very odd error, is there a permanent remedy to this?  The issue is not with the linked table, as it works perfectly fine for other PCs.

Answer : MS Access 2007, External table is not in the specified format (error 3274)

Also take a close look at the data in the dbf file.

Look for things like:
Nulls
Random Text in Numerical fields.
Special charachters (Line feed , carrige return, Formatting characters)
Fields with no data.
...basically look for anything out of the ordinary.


If all else fails, you can always use code like this to refresh the links automatically:

Dim dbs as DAO.Database
Dim tdf As TableDef

Set dbs = CurrentDb
    For Each tdf In dbs.TableDefs
        If Len(tdf.Connect) > 0 Then
            tdf.RefreshLink
        End If
    Next tdf

JeffCoachman