15th August 2002

Most big-time Microsoft Access 97 users have run into this problem at least once; it's the one where you get the error, "There is no license for this system." You've tried reinstalling Access and switching to a different database, but nothing seems to work and you are left with this mocking error. You were probably baffled because the rest of your Microsoft Office installation seemed to be fine, and the only problem was with Access. To fix this, all you need to do is go to Microsoft's Web site, do a search for "AcLicense.exe" (sans quotes) and download the program. Once you run this, all of your Access 97 file-opening problems will be gone. I've also heard tell from Lockergnomie David Rubin that there is an alternate way around this issue, and it is based around a font... I know it sounds funny, but it is true! What happens is that once Access is installed, it looks for the Office Standard font named Haettenschweiler. If it finds it, then it assumes that this is a reinstall and, instead of opening, Access 97 displays the above error. For a workaround, you can go to your Windows Search/Find utility and type in "Haettenschweiler" (sans quotes), rename the font file, and then all will be right again. What's that saying... "The pen is mightier than the sword?" Maybe that should be rephrased to "The font is mightier than the program!"