Access™ 2007 Bible

Chapter 26. Optimizing Access Applications

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Tuning your computer for maximum performance

• Increasing performance dramatically by keeping your code in a compiled state

• Using the Access 2007 large database file format

• Using .accde databases for better performance

• Getting the most from your tables

• Tuning your queries for maximum speed

• Getting the most out of your forms and reports

• Increasing performance by optimizing your VBA code

• Increasing the perceived speed of your application

• Working with large databases

When Microsoft introduced 32-bit Access, a number of new performance concerns came part and parcel with the new features and functions. Microsoft continues to make a conscious effort to enhance the performance of Access 2007 with improvements in Jet as well as compilation techniques and features such as the formerly undocumented decompile command. The end result is that Microsoft has helped to ease your burden, but in no way has it completely taken it from you.

Tip

The published minimum RAM requirement for a computer to run Access 2007 on Windows XP (SP2 or later), Windows Server 2003 (or higher), or Windows Vista is 256MB — with an emphasis on minimum. If you're going to do serious development with Access 2007, you should have at least 512MB of RAM or, preferably, 1GB or more. With today's computers and memory prices, this amount of memory is a valuable investment. In fact, simply adding more memory (512MB to 1GB) will increase speed much more than changing your processor or ...