Pete's Log: stupid access
Entry #1395, (Coding, Hacking, & CS stuff)(posted when I was 28 years old.)
I am posting this here in the hopes that if somebody else ever has the same problem, they'll find this in a google search or something...
I am working on an Access Database, and after a while it would just start crashing anytime I tried to switch into a code (VBA) view. I tried recreating the database and all sorts of things with no luck. All I got was a "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Error" with the path to msaccess.exe and the helpful text "abnormal program termination." Great!
After lots of searching, google groups (a.k.a. usenet) gave me an unlikely answer: change my default printer driver. Apparently Access uses the default printer driver to calculate how access forms get displayed. And apparently some printer drivers are buggy in a way that causes access to crash.
Why access uses a printer driver to calculate how to display something on the screen, or why this causes a crash when I switch to the VBA editor, I have no idea. But...
If you run into Access crashing when you try to switch into the VBA editor, try changing your default printer driver. I didn't believe it would work, but sure enough, it fixed the problem.