CribMaster CribSheet

Optimizing Microsoft Access

Below is a list of tips that can be used to optimize Microsoft Access for use with CribMaster:

1. Check the Network LAN speed. At least 100mbps is required:

2. Ensure the Microsoft Access ODBC driver is used for all connections and not the
CribMaster Access driver:

2/25/2009 

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 3. Connect to the file server that stores the Access or Jet database engine-based
database by using a mapped drive instead of a UNC path.

Make sure ODBC uses mapped drives and not UNC… The mapped network path
should be as direct as possible (S:\Atlas.mdb) and not under several sub
directories or long named directories (S:\Server1\application data\Program
Files\Classic Software\CAdmin\Atlas.mdb).

ADDITIONAL CLIENT OPTIMIZATIONS

1. Enable advanced file name caching.

By default, Windows 2000-based and Windows XP-based operating systems only

cache short file names and short folder names. That is, file names and folder names
that comply with the 8.3 convention. You can enable advanced caching on your
Windows 2000-based or Windows XP-based computer so that it will also cache long
file names and long folder names. This can improve performance when you access
files over a network.

NOTE: Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 already include a
type of advanced caching. However, you must set the InfoCacheLevel registry entry
in the following registry subkey to a hexadecimal value of 0x10 for optimized
performance:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MRxSmb\Paramet
ers

2. Disable Opportunistic Record Locking (not recommended when database is located

on a file server):

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3. The PageTimeout setting for the ODBC data source in the ODBC connection string
may be set too low.

4. Using the Microsoft Access ODBC driver and opening a Microsoft Access database
file on a network share causes an excessive amount of network packet activity to
occur, even when the ODBC connection is idle. The PageTimeout setting for the
ODBC data source in the ODBC connection string may be set too low. The driver
incorrectly uses a default value of 5 for PageTimeout. The correct default value
should be 5000:

a. Select Advanced at ODBC DSN:

b. Scroll to Page Timeout and set value to 5000:

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 5. Ensure your virus scanning software only checks local drives and not network
drives. One report stated twenty second queries took five minutes or fifteen times as
long. Let the server's ant-virus software monitor the server.

FILE SERVER OPTIMIZATION

The following methods describe how to optimize performance on the file server that stores
the Access or Jet database engine-based database.

1. Use 8.3 file name conventions:

Access calls the GetShortPathNameW function across the network on each append
query if the database file name is longer than eight characters or if the database is
located in a folder name that is longer than eight characters.

This behavior occurs with file names and folder names that are longer than the 8.3
file naming convention limits specify. Long file and folder names can increase the
time that is required for the query to be completed. If the name of your database file
or of the folder where your database is located is longer than eight characters,
rename the file name or the folder name. The file and folder names must be no
longer than eight characters, and the file name extension must be no longer than
three characters. The following is an example of a database path that includes a
short, 8.3 convention file and folder names:

\Folder_1\Folder_2\AccessDb.mdb

The following is an example of a database path that uses long file and folder names:

\FolderForFirstDatabase\FolderForSecondDatabase\ThisIsA_BigDatabase.mdb

2. Turn off the sharing violation notification delay:

You can turn off the sharing violation notification delay to improve file server
performance. To do this, follow these steps on the file server that stores the Access
or Jet database engine-based program database.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify
the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry
incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added
protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the
registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore
the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
Turning off the sharing violation notification delay:

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 a. Click Start > Run
b. Type regedit.
c. Click OK.
d. Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanSer
ver\Parameters

e. Right-click Parameters.
f. Point to New.
g. Click DWORD Value.
h. Type SharingViolationDelay.
i. Press ENTER.

NOTE: When you create the SharingViolationDelay subkey entry, the default
value that is assigned is 0x0. This is what we want.

If the SharingViolationDelay subkey entry already exists, right-click the

SharingViolationDelay entry, click Modify, type 0, and then click OK.

j. Right-click Parameters.
k. Select New.
l. Click DWORD Value.
m. Type SharingViolationRetries.
n. Press ENTER.

NOTE: When you create the SharingViolationRetries subkey entry, the

default value that is assigned is 0x0. This is what you want.

If the SharingViolationRetries subkey entry already exists, right-click the

SharingViolationRetries entry, click Modify, type 0, and then click
OK.

o. Quit the Registry Editor.

3. Move the back-end database file to an NTFS file system volume:

If the Access or Jet database engine-based program database is located on a file

allocation table (FAT)-based volume, you can improve performance by moving the
back-end database file to an NTFS volume.

4. Disable automatic short file name generation:

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 Disable automatic short file name generation on the NTFS file system. To do this,
follow these steps on the file server that stores the Access or Jet database engine-
based program database.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify
the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry
incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added
protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the
registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore
the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the

registry in Windows

a. Click Start.
b. Click Run.
c. Type regedit.
d. Click OK.
e. Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

f. Right-click NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation.
g. Click Modify.
h. Type 1.
i. Click OK.
j. Quit Registry Editor.
k. Restart the computer.

NOTE: After you make this change, files that use the short name format will still be
available to 32-bit programs. However, files with long file names that are created after you
make this change may not be available to 16-bit programs.

5. Turn off file system aliasing:

If your Access or Jet database engine database file is located on a Windows Server
2003 file server, you can turn off file system aliasing. Aliasing is a feature that is
included with Windows Server 2003. This feature lets multiple long file names or
multiple short file names refer to the same file. Disabling file system aliasing can
improve performance by increasing the server service caching that is available on
the Windows Server 2003-based computer.

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IMPORTANT: If your Windows Server 2003-based computer uses file system
aliasing, such as mounting or reparse points, we do not recommend that you follow
this procedure.

To turn off file server aliasing, follow these steps on the Windows Server 2003 file
server that stores the Access or Jet database engine database.

IMPORTANT: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to
modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry
incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added
protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the
registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore
the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the

registry in Windows

a. Click Start.
b. Click Run.
c. Type regedit.
d. Click OK.
e. Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\
Parameters

f. Right-click Parameters.
g. Point to New.
h. Click DWORD Value.
i. Type NoAliasingOnFileSystem.
j. Press ENTER.
k. Right-click NoAliasingOnFileSystem.
l. Click Modify.
m. Type 1.
n. Click OK.
o. Quit Registry Editor.
p. Restart the computer.

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