Base opens access .mdb files in Writer!

I gave up on 64-bit version of LO and installed 32-bit. I’m now able to open .odb files again, but when I try my Access .mdb files, LO opens them in Write, displaying what looks like Unicode or something on the page. The strange thing is that my .odb versions are somehow linking to the original .mdb files. I’m about ready to hurl my pc through a window. Been researching all day, and can’t find anything on how to fix this.

Regarding both last post & this one. I don’t run windows anymore (over 2 yrs now) so Win10 help is somewhat beyond me.

Base requires Java to be installed - JRE (ALL systems - JDK on some Macs). For 32-bit Lo then 32-bit JRE; 64-bit LO then 64-bit JRE. This may be why your 32-bit LO now works after installing Java (previous question).

.mdb files cannot be opened directly by Base. I can open an .mdb file with writer & see what you see. Your system is probably defaulting to Writer for that file type. Most often this is opened through Base (on Windows) via ODBC connection. On my Linux system I use a third party connector.

You state .odb versions are linking to .mdb. On the main screen of Base, you probably show ODBC in lower left corner of that screen. That’s the connection to the .mdb file.

Don’t know what else I can tell you at this point. More questions? I can try to help.

Ratslinger - Thanks for your response. It helped me to better understand what’s going on. The strange thing is that I was actually able to use Base before to open .mdb files (created in Access 2003). I’m guessing it’s a Windows 10 issue, but haven’t yet found a workaround.

As for the .odb files linking to the .mdb ones, I’m seeing “Microsoft Access” in the lower left for the connection type.

When I was using Windows I don’t recall being able to directly open Access files in Base. The connection (& the “Microsoft Access” on yours) is when creating a new Base file you can connect to an existing database. Only on the Windows version of LO does the dropdown list for this selection contain Access. I believe this is because it uses part of Windows OS for connection (ODBC I believe).

If this answers your question please click on the :heavy_check_mark: (upper left area of answer).