SUMMARY: Change the default folder that Access 2003 uses to open and store databases.

By default, Microsoft Access 2003 is configured to open and save databases in the user’s “My Documents” folder, the same place where other Office 2003 files are located.

For various reasons you may wish Access to look inside another folder, perhaps a network share. Thus, this default can be changed:

1. Open or create a database to enable the “Tools” – “Options” menu.

2. Click “Tools” – “Options”.

3. When the “Options” multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the “General” tab.

4. Underneath “Default database folder”, enter the name of the default folder where Access 2003 should open and store databases. Note there is no “Browse” button so be sure to type this path correctly, or copy and paste it from an Explorer window.

5. Click “OK” to close the dialog box.

SUMMARY: Prevent Access 2003 from selecting entire fields when navigating via the arrow keys.

When navigating data in Microsoft Access 2003 such as through tables, when you use the cursor keys to move between fields and records, the currently selected field becomes completely highlighted. When this happens, if you accidentally press a character, the entire field will get replaced with said character, usually resulting in a frantic undo operation.

You can change this behavior so that navigating through data results in the cursor being placed at the beginning or end of the field. This way, if you accidentally press a character, the entire field will not get overwritten. The downside is that this makes it harder to navigate via the left and right arrow keys as you will have to move through each character of a field before navigating to the next>Tab and Shift+Tab keystrokes will still jump between fields as expected.

1. Open or create a database to enable the “Tools” – “Options” menu.

2. Click “Tools” – “Options”.

3. When the “Options” multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the “Keyboard” tab.

4. Underneath “Behavior entering field”, either click the “Go to start of field” or “Go to end of field” radio button as desired.

5. Click “OK” to close the dialog box.

SUMMARY: Alter the datasheet colors in Microsoft Access 2003 to fit your preferences.

When working with a datasheet in Microsoft Access 2003, such as when you are editing a table, you may wish to change the default colors of black text>Changing the datasheet colors in Microsoft Access 2003

5. Click “OK” to close the dialog box.

Before printing a table, you may wish to alter the colors to make the table easier to read>

SUMMARY: Expand the list of recently used files displayed in the File menu of Access 2003, or remove this list from the menu.

By default, near the bottom of the “File” menu in Microsoft Access 2003 is a list of recently-accessed files. This way you can reopen frequently-used databases without having to navigate your system via the “File” – “Open” menu.

While four files is the default, you can have Access 2003 display up to nine. Or, if you do not need this part of the “File” menu, it can be turned off.

1. Open or create a database to enable the “Tools” – “Options” menu.

2. Click “Tools” – “Options”.

3. When the “Options” multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the “General” tab.

4. To expand or contract the list of recently used files without disabling it altogether, ensure that the “Recently used file list” box is checked. Then, next to this box, click>OR

Uncheck the “Recently used file list” box to remove the list from the “File” menu.

5. Click “OK” to close the “Options” dialog box.

SUMMARY: Prevent Access from showing a task pane> 

When you start Microsoft Access 2003 without automatically opening a database, a “Getting Started” pane appears>

SUMMARY: Remove some of your personal information from Access 2003 databases that you plan> 

When you open a database in Microsoft Access 2003 and choose “File” – “Database Properties”, then select the “Summary” tab from the “Properties” dialog box, some of your personal information may be displayed including your name and company name.

If you plan>
4. Check “Remove personal information from file properties>

SUMMARY: Gain access to all the available Microsoft Office 2003 menus.

When using Microsoft Office 2003 applications such as Microsoft Word 2003 and Microsoft Excel 2003, you may have noticed that the menus>

SUMMARY: Ensure Microsoft Office 2003 installs all its available components.

If you have recently upgraded from an earlier version of Microsoft Office to Microsoft Office 2003, you may want to further customize your Office components. When upgrading, Office 2003 checks to see which Office components are currently installed and upgrades them, possibly leaving out components you may have forgotten to install earlier.

To customize your Microsoft Office 2003 components:

1. Click>

SUMMARY: Find out about Microsoft’s anonymous customer experience improvement program.

After installing Microsoft Office 2003, you may have noticed a Microsoft Office icon appear in your taskbar near the system clock. Double-click the icon and you will be prompted whether or not to participate in an anonymous customer experience improvement program. If you select yes, anonymous (!) hardware and usage data will be sent to Microsoft. If you don’t want this information collected or are concerned about your privacy, select “No”. Click “OK” when done.

SUMMARY: Pros and cons of upgrading to Microsoft Office 2003.

If you are currently running an earlier version of Microsoft Office 2003, it may be a difficult choice>