Launching Access

Launching Access couldn't be simpler, especially if you're familiar with other Office products. If you can open one Office product, you can open them all. The following are the two menu options in the Administrator window for launching Access:

• Click Start in the Windows taskbar If you use Access often, it will appear on the Start menu, as shown in Figure 2.1.

  Figure 2.1. You can launch Microsoft Access from the Start menu or the All Programs menu.

  

• If Access isn't listed in the Start menu, select All Programs and then select Microsoft Access from the resulting submenu This is also shown in Figure 2.1. After opening Access, Windows adds it to the Start menu. After you launch Access, Windows displays a small representative button on its taskbar, as shown in Figure 2.2.

  Figure 2.2. Look for the Access button on the Windows taskbar when Access is displayed and running on the desktop.

  

Note

Windows should add the Microsoft Access item to the Windows program list when you install Access (see Figure 2.1). If you can't find Access on the Start menu or in the list of programs, select Search from the Start menu and search for the file msaccess.exe . When Windows finds the file, you can drag it from the Search dialog box and drop it on the Start menu to create your own shortcut.

Figure 2.2 also shows you the parts of Access you'll most likely work with first. The File menu and the New button let you open or create databases. The task pane provides handy shortcuts to common tasks you might want to perform.

Note

Remember, we're using Windows XP in this book. If you have an older version of Windows, things will look differentbut Access will still work fine!