DataHoarder_99 Posted: 10/15/2024
Hey everyone,
I remember back in the early 2000s, there was a scene release of —the one that fit on a single CD and ran directly from a USB stick (or a Zip drive!) without a full install. microsoft access 97 portable
I’m deep into a retro database restoration project. I have a client with an old .MDB file from the late 90s that was built with a lot of specific VBA modules and "Database 97" features. Modern versions of Access (2016/365) keep breaking the forms and throwing "invalid references." Modern versions of Access (2016/365) keep breaking the
Does anyone have an ISO or a 7z archive sitting on an old backup drive? Reply 1: CRT_Surfer I might have this on
Before anyone suggests converting it to SQLite or A365: The client needs to maintain the original UI and report formats exactly as they were in 1999. Emulation is my last resort. Reply 1: CRT_Surfer I might have this on a 250MB Zip disk labeled "Office 97 Lite." I’ll check my garage this weekend. Fair warning: Even if it works, you’ll need to run it in Windows 10/11 with the Jet 3.5 fix and set ACEWSS.DLL to register manually. Also, don’t expect it to work on 64-bit Access—this is strictly 32-bit. Reply 2: VB6_Forever I remember that portable! It was by Lexa or FOSI , right? The trick was it wrote temp registry keys to %AppData%\Microsoft\Access\97 and deleted them on exit. The problem today is Windows Defender quarantines the .exe wrapper because it looks like a hacktool. You’ll have to add an exclusion. Reply 3: ModernDev Why would you want this? Access 97 is a security nightmare. No parameterized queries by modern standards, no Unicode support... just convert the data and rebuild the forms in Power Apps. Reply 4: DataHoarder_99 (OP) @ModernDev – Because Power Apps can’t run a 1997 Win32 API call in VBA to control a serial barcode scanner. This is for industrial legacy hardware, not a CRM. Please stay on topic. Reply 5: FloppyKnight Check the Internet Archive. Search "Access 97 Portable" under the Software section. There is a file called acc97_port.7z uploaded in 2018. Size is ~32MB compressed. I just scanned it with ClamAV—clean, but the digital signature is long expired. Works on my Windows 11 LTSC test VM if you set apphelp to disabled for that folder. Good luck!
Does anyone still have a working copy of Microsoft Access 97 Portable?