One of the most common mistakes I see, and hear about it, is improper syntax when referencing controls on a subform. As far as Access is concerned, a subform is just another control on the main form — and that’s what confuses folks.

First, let’s review referencing controls in general. Use either of the following syntax statements to reference a control on a main form:

Forms!formname!controlname

Me!controlname

(In more recent versions, you can substitute bang (!) with dot (.) between objects.)

To refer to a subform or a control on a subform, you must remember that Access treats the subform as a control. Essentially, you have a form with a control with a control. To express that arrangement in terms Access can decipher, you need the Form property as follows

Forms!mainform!subform.Form.controlonsubform

Me!subform.Form.controlonsubform

In other words, subform is simply a control on the main form.

What I commonly see is a simple transposition of the Form property and subform, which generates a runtime error:

Forms!mainform.Form.subform.controlonsubform

In this form, Access assumes Form is a control. When it can’t find a control named form, Access returns an error.

When entering formulas, you select a cell and start typing. To edit an existing formula, you probably make changes in the Formula bar. Recently, I noticed several Excel students reaching for the mouse and clicking the Formula bar to edit formulas. That method’s Okay, but some people find it easier to work from the keyboard as much as possible. If that describes you, press [F2] instead of reaching for the mouse the next time you want to edit an existing formula.To me, it hardly seemed worth mentioning. Admittedly, substituting a single keystroke for a mouse click doesn’t seem like a big deal, unless you prefer the keyboard (at least most of the time). The keyboard approach isn’t more efficient, it’s just different.

If pressing [F2] positions the cursor in the cell instead of the Formula bar, do the following:

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If you’re using Excel 2007, do the following:

1. Click the Office button and then click Excel Options (at the bottom right).
2. Select Advanced in the left pane.
3. Uncheck the Allow Editing Directly In Cell option.
4. Click OK.

With a few simple formatting tweaks, you can make your Access reports far easier to read and interpret.

You can make your Access reports easier to read by adding controls, such as lines and rectangles, and using back color to group records visually. For example, say you have a report that lists each customer’s order balance. To make it easier to interpret, you have grouped the customers according to their assigned Intern and included a Total Balance for each group. However, as you can see in Figure A, the results are difficult to read.

Figure A

To improve this situation, follow these steps:

Figure B

1. Click in the Back Style box of the Rectangle Property Sheet and select Transparent (Figure C).

Figure C

1. Click the Detail bar to select the Detail Report section.
2. Click in the Back Color box of the Detail property sheet and click the Build button.
3. Click a light blue color swatch (Figure D).

Figure D

Now when you run the report, the added controls visually organize the data to make it much easier to read, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

When you need to flip-flop data in an Excel worksheet, don’t waste time doing it manually. Excel offers a handy Transpose option that will quickly take care of the task.

Here’s a tip that eliminates the need to rekey data. Suppose you’ve entered your data with three column headings running across Row 1 and four row headings running down Column A, like the ones shown in Figure A.

Figure A

After working with the data for a while, you decide you’d rather have the current set of row labels (months) running across the columns. Whatever you do, don’t even think about rekeying the data.

You’ll find the best solution on the Paste Special menu. Start by selecting and copying your entire data range. Click on a new location in your sheet, then go to Edit | Paste Special and select the Transpose check box, as shown in Figure B. Click OK, and Excel will transpose the column and row labels and data, as shown in Figure C.

Figure B

Figure C

Note

You aren’t limited to using the Paste Special | Transpose option to rearrange multiple rows and columns of data. It works just as well when you need to turn a single row of labels into a column, or vice propecia generic online versa.

Deciphering the information displayed on the dreaded BSOD will expedite your troubleshooting efforts.

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Microsoft Windows XP systems are notorious for crashing for any number of reasons and in a number of ways. Some of these crashes are mild and can easily be overcome simply by closing a nonresponding application or by rebooting the system. However, others are more serious and can bring the entire system to its knees. Microsoft calls these types of crashes “Stop errors” because the operating system stops responding. When a Stop error occurs, the GUI is replaced by a DOS-like blue screen with a cryptic error message followed by a code number. This screen is affectionately referred to as the Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD for short.

I’m going to show you how to analyze BSODs and extract the relevant troubleshooting information. I’ll then take a look at some of the more common Windows XP BSOD errors. I’ll also provide a link to an article in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base that describes the troubleshooting steps and possible solutions in detail. To view screen shots of these BSOD error messages, along with an explanation of each one, check out this photo gallery.

This blog post is also available in the PDF format as a TechRepublic Download.

Dissecting a BSOD

Although Stop errors can be caused by both hardware and software malfunctions, the most typical cause is a hardware malfunction. Each Stop error is accompanied by a specific error description and an eight-digit hexadecimal number error code. It may not be immediately apparent when you see a BSOD (mostly due to the shock factor that hits you when a BSOD occurs), but you can use the description and code to identify the type of error that is occurring. You just need to be able to identify the key parts of the message so you’ll have a direction and focus for your troubleshooting expedition. The trick is in finding the relevant information on the BSOD.

Let’s suppose that you encounter the BSOD shown in Figure A.

Figure A

This Stop error indicates that requested data was not in memory.

At the top of the Windows XP BSOD, you’ll find the error description, which will be in all uppercase letters with multiple words tied together with underscore characters. In the following BSOD excerpt, the text KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED is the error description:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Immediately following the error description, you’ll find some general troubleshooting steps. In some cases, following these steps will lead you to a solution. (Keep in mind that this same information appears in just about every BSOD.)

If this is the first time you've seen this error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need. If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

After the general troubleshooting information, you’ll find the Technical Information section, which contains the eight-digit hexadecimal number error code. The code is usually accompanied by four error-dependent values enclosed in parentheses. (These values typically aren’t necessary information, but you may want to take note of them.) If a file was directly associated with the problem that caused the BSOD, it will also be listed here. In this case, you can see that the file ati3diag.dll is tied to the problem:

Technical information: *** STOP: 0x00000050 (0x8872A990, 0x00000001, 0x804F35D7, 0x00000000)*** ati3diag.dll – Address ED80AC55 base at ED88F000, Date Stamp 3dcb24d0

Following the Technical Information section, you’ll see another generic section. This one alerts you to the fact that Windows XP has dumped the contents of system memory to a file on the hard disk:

Beginning dump of physical memory Physical memory dump complete. Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

Armed with these details, you can visit Microsoft’s online Help and Support page and search the Knowledge Base for more detailed troubleshooting and solution information.

Common BSODs in Windows XP

Now that you have a good idea of how to dissect a BSOD and pull out the relevant pieces of information from all the gibberish on the screen, let’s look at some of the more common BSODs in Windows XP. I’ll cover just a few of the BSOD conditions, but there are lots of possible Stop errors. For each BSOD I discuss, I’ll provide a link to an article on the Microsoft Knowledge Base that covers that particular Stop error. (Since more than one article might address a Stop error, you may want to search the Knowledge Base if you discover that you need more information.)

STOP: 0×0000000A
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
This Stop error, which can be caused by either software or hardware, indicates that a kernel-mode process or driver attempted to access a memory location it did not have permission to access or a memory location that exists at a kernel interrupt request level (IRQL) that was too high. A kernel-mode process can only access other processes that have an IRQL that’s equal to or lower than its own.
Troubleshooting a Stop 0×0000000A error in Windows XP

STOP: 0×0000001E
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
This Stop error indicates that the Windows XP kernel detected an illegal or unknown processor instruction. The problems that cause this Stop error can be either software or hardware related and result from invalid memory and access violations, which are intercepted by Windows’ default error handler if error-handling routines are not present in the code itself.
Possible Resolutions to STOP 0×0A, 0×01E, and 0×50 Errors

STOP: 0×00000050
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
This Stop error indicates that requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop error.
Possible Resolutions to STOP 0×0A, 0×01E, and 0×50 Errors

STOP: 0×0000007B
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
This Stop error indicates that Windows XP has lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup process. Installing incorrect device drivers when installing or upgrading storage adapter hardware typically causes this Stop error. This error could also indicate a possible virus infection.
Troubleshooting Stop 0×0000007B or “0×4,0,0,0″ Error

STOP: 0×0000007F
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
This Stop error indicates a hardware problem resulting from mismatched memory, defective memory, a malfunctioning CPU, or a fan failure that’s causing overheating.
General causes of “STOP 0×0000007F” errors

STOP: 0×0000009F
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
This Stop error indicates that a driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state. This Stop error typically occurs during events that involve power state transitions, such as shutting down or moving in or out of standby or hibernate mode.
propecia generic 5mg color=”#003399″>Troubleshooting a Stop 0×9F Error in Windows XP

STOP: 0×000000D1
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
This Stop error indicates that the system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL that was too high. The most typical cause is a bad device driver (one that uses improper addresses). It can also be caused by faulty or mismatched RAM or a damaged pagefile.
Error Message with RAM Problems or Damaged Virtual Memory Manager

STOP: 0×000000EA
THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
This Stop error indicates that a device driver problem is causing the system to pause indefinitely. Typically, this problem is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video adapter or a faulty video driver.
Error message: STOP 0×000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER

STOP: 0×00000024
NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
This Stop error indicates that a problem occurred within Ntfs.sys, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to drives formatted with the NTFS file system. (A similar Stop message, 0×00000023, exists for the file allocation table [FAT16 or FAT32)] file systems.)
Troubleshooting Stop 0×24 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM Error Messages

STOP: 0xC0000218
UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR
This Stop error indicates that a necessary registry hive file could not be loaded. The file may be corrupt or missing. The registry file may have been corrupted due to hard disk corruption or some other hardware problem. A driver may have corrupted the registry data while loading into memory or the memory where the registry is loading may have a parity error.
How to Troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 Error Message

STOP: 0xC0000221
STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
This Stop message indicates driver, system file, or disk corruption problems (such as a damaged paging file). Faulty memory hardware can also cause this Stop message to appear.
“STOP: C0000221 unknown hard error” or “STOP: C0000221 STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH” error message occurs