Access 2007:
Basic
Frequently asked questions and instructor notes
All our courses assume that each student has a personal computer to use during the class. Our hands-on approach to learning requires they do. This topic gives information on how to set up the classroom to teach this course. It includes minimum requirements for the students’ personal computers, setup information for the first time you teach the class, and setup information for each time that you teach after the first time you set up the classroom.
The Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office 2007 suite are subject to continual updating by Microsoft. The versions of each that you install are by definition different from the versions that we used to prepare this course in December 2006. The setup process described here may vary slightly from what you will encounter. This also applies to activities and screen shots throughout the course.
Hardware requirements
Each student’s personal computer should have:
· A keyboard and a mouse
· Pentium 500 MHz processor (or higher)
· 256 MB RAM (or higher)
· 2 GB of available hard drive space
· CD-ROM drive
· SVGA at 1024 × 768, or higher resolution monitor
Software requirements
You will need the following software:
· Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003
· Microsoft Office 2007
Network requirements
The following network components and connectivity are also required for this course:
· Internet access, for the following purposes:
· Updating the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office 2007 at update.microsoft.com.
· Downloading the Student Data files (if necessary).
· Opening Help files at Microsoft Office Online. (If online Help is not available, students will not be able to complete activity C-1 in the unit titled “Getting Started.”)
· Downloading document templates from Microsoft Office Online. (If online templates are not available, students will not be able to complete activity C-1 in the unit titled “Databases and tables.”)
First-time setup instructions
The first time you teach this course, you will need to perform the following steps to set up each student computer.
1 Install Windows XP on an NTFS partition according to the software manufacturer’s instructions.
Note: You can also use Windows Vista or Windows Server 2003, but the screen shots in this course were taken using Windows XP, so students’ screens will look somewhat different.
2 If the operating system is Windows XP, then launch the Control Panel, open the Display Properties dialog box and apply the following settings:
· Theme—Windows XP
· Screen resolution—1024 by 768 pixels
· Color quality—High (24 bit) or higher
3 If Windows was already loaded on this PC, verify that Internet Explorer is the default Web browser. (If you installed Windows yourself, skip this step.)
a Click Start, All Programs, Internet Explorer.
b Choose Tools, Internet Options.
c Check “Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser.”
d Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.
e Close and re-open Internet Explorer.
f If a prompt appears, asking you to make Internet Explorer your default browser, click Yes.
g Close Internet Explorer.
4 Create Internet accounts for the students. Web access is required; e-mail accounts are not. Internet access must be configured to complete activity C-1 in the unit titled “Getting Started” and activity C-1 in the unit titled “Databases and tables.”
5 Open Internet Explorer and navigate to update.microsoft.com. Update the operating system with the latest critical updates and service packs.
6 Install Microsoft Office 2007 according to the software manufacturer’s instructions, as follows:
a When prompted for the CD key, enter the code included with your software.
b Select the Customize installation option and click Next.
c Activate the Installation Options tab.
d For Access 2007, Office Shared Features, and Office Tools, click the drop-down arrow and choose Run all from My Computer.
e Set all but the following to Not Available: Access 2007, Office Shared Features, and Office Tools.
f Click Install Now.
g On the last screen of the Office 2007 installer, click Go to Office Online. Internet Explorer displays the Office Online Web site, and the installer window closes.
h On the Office Online Web page, activate the Downloads tab.
i Download and install any available updates.
j Close Internet Explorer.
7 If you don’t have the data CD that came with this manual, download the Student Data files for the course. You can download the data directly to student machines, to a central location on your own network, or to a disk.
a Connect to www.courseilt.com/instructor_tools.html.
b Click the link for Microsoft Access 2007 to display a page of course listings, and then click the link for Access 2007: Basic.
c Click the link for downloading the Student Data files, and follow the instructions that appear on your screen.
8 Create a student data folder on each student’s computer, and copy the Student Data files to that folder.
9 Start Access 2007.
a Activate the software. After activating, the Welcome to the 2007 Microsoft Office System dialog box appears.
b On the Privacy Options screen, verify that “Search Microsoft Office Online for Help content when I’m connected to the Internet” is checked.
c Verify that “Download a file periodically that helps determine system problems” is cleared.
d Verify that “Sign up for the Customer Experience Improvement Program” is cleared.
e Click Next.
f Select “I don’t want to use Microsoft Update.”
g Click Finish to close the dialog box.
10 To ensure that students won’t get a security warning when they open files in Access 2007, designate the student data folder as a Trusted Location:
a Click the Office Button and choose Access Options to open the Access Options dialog box.
b On the Trust Center page, click Trust Center Settings. The Trust Center dialog box opens.
c Navigate to the Trusted Locations page.
d Click Add new location. The Microsoft Office 2007 Trusted Location dialog box opens.
e Click Browse and navigate to the student data folder.
f Click OK to close the Browse dialog box.
g Check Subfolders of this location are also trusted.
h Click OK to close the Microsoft Office 2007 Trusted Location dialog box.
i Click OK to close the Trust Center dialog box.
11 Make the student data folder the default file location.
a In the left panel of the Access Options dialog box, choose Popular.
b Under Creating databases, click Browse, and navigate to the student data folder.
c Click OK to close the Default Database Path dialog box.
d Click OK to close the Access Options dialog box.
e Close Access 2007.
Setup instructions for every class
Every time you teach this course, you will need to perform the following steps to set up each student computer.
1 Delete the contents of the Student Data folder, if necessary. (If this is the first time you are teaching the course, create a folder named Student Data at the root of the hard drive.)
2 Copy the data files to the Student Data folder. (See the download instructions in the preceding section.)
3 Open Internet Explorer and navigate to update.microsoft.com. Update the operating system and Office 2007.
Topic B: Frequently asked questions
There are no frequently asked questions for this course at this time.
Topic C: Course notes
Exercise A-2 in Unit 4 infers that,
if both the Required property and the AllowZeroLength property are set to Yes, then pressing the spacebar (instead of entering
data) stores the field as a null value. According to Microsoft, when these two
properties are set to Yes, and you either press the spacebar or enter a zero
length string ("") which is a pair of double quotes, the field is
stored as a zero-length string, not as a Null value. There is an important
difference between the two because, to find these fields later, you query for
them differently. Instructor’s answers in Unit 4 review questions are incorrect
in places as they relate to this same issue.
Topic D: Additional information
There is no additional information for this course at this time.