Tips on using the Microsoft Access Upsizing Wizard

• February 24, 2008
• James Skemp
• software, tutorials / guides

In no particular order, here are some tips if you're using the Microsoft Access Upsizing Wizard to convert your Access database to SQL (SQL Express 2005, in my case).

The tips

Make sure you've downloaded the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express tools as well.

When connecting with the above, make note of the server you're connecting to; you'll need this for later. For example, PAVA620N\SQLEXPRESS (that's computer name \ instance name of SQL Server).

Setup the ODBC connection before attempting to move the data over. Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC)

Close out of all tables and forms before using the Upsizing Wizard (not a big deal, as it'll prompt you).

When connecting to the SQL Server, use the computer name \ instance name, instead of (local). At least, it didn't work for me.

Supposedly there may be issues if you try to upsize tables with date columns.

The error you get when a table doesn't get upsized is not helpful. "Table was skipped or export failed."  Yeah ...

Are you using any OLE Object columns? That was my problem. Check also for date columns.

If you use an existing database, it'll import the new table(s) into whatever you've setup as your default db for the ODBC connection.