My goal is to allow people to use my application without having Access installed on their computer.

I want the runtime to be on the disk (or thumbdrive) I send them without anything being installed on their computer. My goal is to send a disk they insert into the disk drive on a Windows XP or Windows 7, have them double click on a file or icon, and have the application run. (It does not matter if they cannot write or make changes if its on a CD.)

Is this a well-established and straightforward task? Or is this highly difficult or unusual?

Hi



Unfortunately it does matter if the file is on a CD as Access has to have write privileges to be able to create/delete the locking file (.ldb or .laccdb depending in which version of Access you're using)

Also, I don't believe you can run an Access app if Access is not installed. You need either the full version, or at minimum, the RunTime installed on the PC.

Microsoft Access is not a portable app. This mean it require it to be installed into Windows before it can be used.

You will have to write a front end is another language that can be portable. You will also probably have to use JET (.mdb) format and not the newer ACE (.accdb) format for your back end. Why JET *.adb)? That is because the JET engine is part of Windows 2000 and later. o you will not have to install the JET engine. With ACE (.accdb) you will have to run an installer to install it before you app will be able to read the .accdb.

If you want a very potable app then you should consider going web based. Unfortunately that will require building a totally new front end.

Will not work believe us, even on VMWare and Spoon.

From Access 2010 Programmer’s Reference (Wrox):
Under that premise, my goal is to send someone a writeable memory stick (forget the CD idea I mentioned before) that contains the runtime and my application in a configuration such that it can run my database application right on that thumbdrive without installing stuff on the user’s computer.
Will someone knowledgeable and experienced in using the Access 2010 runtime tell me if what I wish to do is a possible, and if so, reasonably straightforward?

Hi William

I've never had to try it, but I'd say you can't do it. Whether it's full blown or runtime, Access would need to be installed on the PC. Amongst other things there's lots of data/settings stored in the Registry that simply wouldn't be there without an install of some description.

Assuming though that Access (runtime or retail) is installed, you could probably run your db from a flash drive that had the appropriate read/write permissions. As per above, the locking file would need to be able to be created/deleted

Unfortunately what you want do to is NOT possible with the Access Runtime. The Access Runtime my be installed just like the Full version. There is not a portable version of the Access runtime.

“The Access 2010 Runtime allows applications to run on Windows machines even when the Access program itself is not installed” does not mean the the Runtime is not installed.


This may help: What is the Access Runtime Version?

Actually, I've been eyeing the idea of using an application virtualization product to accomplish exactly what being asked for here.

I don't know if that's possible with spoon, but using thinstall from vmWare or some other application virtualization products does hold great potential for making this idea a reality.

I've not had the time, but looking at some products the idea of a runtime as a virtualized application would in fact give us the ability to use a CD, or jump drive, and launch an application runtime without the need for ANY install except the presence of an .exe file.

In fact, such a possible setup is now possible, just not at reasonable cost. This area of the marketplace is young, but as more players enter we will likely see this happen.

Albert D. Kallal (Access MVP)
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
kallal@msn.com

I am very curious to see what Application Virtualization could do for deploying Access front ends.

As Albert pointed out there are solutions available but they are very expensive.

I have been looking into this one: InstallAware's Application Virtualization

There is also these:

VMware ThinApp 4.6 Suite
Starting at:



Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V)