Rollback
By Richard Rost
18 months ago
Rollback Microsoft Access to Previous Version
In this Microsoft Access tutorial, I will show you how to roll back your Access installation to a previous version to avoid bugs, crashes, and other issues. Learn what steps to take, disable automatic updates, and use Command Prompt effectively to maintain a stable work environment.
Links
Useful Stuff
- Open Command Prompt As Administrator
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun
- OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.17531.20152
Keywords
TechHelp Access, roll back Microsoft Access, downgrading Office 365, disable automatic updates Access, previous Access version, fix Access crashes, click-to-run Office rollback, issues with Access update, troubleshooting Access, revert Access update, administrator Command Prompt Access, update Office manually, recover stable Access version
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Transcript
Today we're going to talk about rolling back your Microsoft Access install because I've been pulling my hair out with the most recent update. It just crashes randomly, and I'm not talking about big, complicated databases. I'm talking about even my little training database, the TechHelp template. I don't know if you guys watch my videos regularly, but the last couple of videos I did just crashed in the middle. I think I left it in one of the videos.
I ended up rolling back to the last version that I knew was stable without any problems. In today's video, I'm going to teach you how to do the same thing. I got this labeled as an expert-level video. That might be a little bit beyond some of the beginners, but you don't need any programming to do this. So here we go.
Alright, first thing, bugs happen. I get it, I'm a programmer. I've been developing all my life, and you can't hold the Microsoft people responsible. Sometimes, you know, you make changes, and bugs just creep in. You can't foresee everything. But they can affect your productivity.
I experienced a major bug problem a couple of years ago that really did affect my main database that runs my whole business. This was before you could roll back. This was years ago. I think I was using, I don't know, Access 2013 or maybe 2007. I had to uninstall Access and go back a version. That's back before they had the subscription. So, yeah, bugs happen. But if you run into a situation where you do an update (or updates for you without telling you) and something's not working, you might need to roll back to a previous version.
Now, big thanks to the guys over at Access Forever. They've got a great page with instructions on how to do this. I'll put a link to this down below, but they cover all the details. If you have any problems and can't follow along with my video, go to their page. I'll put a link to it down below.
I am only going to cover the click-to-run version of Office 365. So if you've got a subscription, which I strongly recommend, then these instructions should work for you. If you're using the perpetual version like 2019, 2021, the old-school standard "buy it upfront" version, then there are instructions on Access Forever's page on how to do this for those versions. This covers the click-to-run only.
So, the first thing you're going to do is go to Microsoft's update history page. Here's the link; again, I'll put a copy of this link down below. It takes you to the Microsoft 365 apps. Now, scroll down past supported versions until you get to version history.
Okay, this is the version for me that was causing problems, locking up and just restarting Access randomly. Usually, I receive these semi-annual enterprise channel updates. Whenever there's one of these major updates, I end up going back to the one that I know worked fine for me. I didn't have any problems in May and early June. This one came out, but I started having issues.
So, note this build number. Copy it down, copy it to your clipboard, or whatever you want to do. Copy that number right there. Okay, it looks like that. Copy that, put it in your clipboard, Notepad it. Boom, I just copied it off their website. Get rid of everything except for that number. That's what you want right there. Set that aside.
Next, you're going to turn off automatic updates. I put this on a slide by itself because I forgot to do this the first time, and then a day or two later, Access updated itself again. So, open up Access, go to your account page, click on update options, and then disable updates. Are you sure? Yup. Okay, you'll see this.
Now, you might want to make a note to yourself for like a month in the future to come back in here and turn this back on because you don't want to be not getting updates forever. You usually only have to do this when you have a problem. But once the problem is fixed, you can come back and turn this back on again. I usually leave the updates on. Actually, I have them turned off on my server machine. That's critical. So I let that one sit there. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it's working, I leave it alone. But for my regular machine, my training machine, I want to have all the new features because I've got to teach them to you guys.
Anyways, once that's done, we're ready to move on to the next step. You can close Access.
Alright, next you're going to start a Command Prompt as an administrator. You can't just open up any regular Command Prompt. You have to have administrative rights. You need to elevate. There are a lot of ways to do it. This is the way I remember. Start CMD and then right-click Run as Administrator. Yeah, I know there are shortcut keys for it. Just click Start, type in CMD. You'll see Command Prompt right there. You can either click over here where it says Run as Administrator or right-click on it, Run as Administrator. You'll get a prompt; say Yes, and there it is. I'll drag it down here. There's your Command Prompt. You are now an administrator. Be careful while you're in here, by the way. Don't go deleting stuff willy-nilly.
Alright, next up you're going to navigate to your click-to-run folder. It usually looks like this, but it's wherever your common files Microsoft shared folder is, and you're going to find click-to-run. In my case, I'm going to go cd backslash to change the root, and then it's program files, cd common files. Yes, I type them in as individual commands because if you type in one misspelling, you mess the whole thing up. Cd Microsoft shared, cd click-to-run.
Alright. Now, I'm in my click-to-run folder. Next up, here's the command you're going to run right there. This thing with your number on it. Notice the 16.0 is in there. I'm going to put a copy of this down below too in the text underneath the video, so you can just copy this if you want to. In your notepad, put a copy of it in there and then insert your number, whatever version you decide you want, right there.
Then copy this whole thing to your clipboard, copy, switch over here and hit paste, control V, control C, control V, and then press enter. You should see it running. It might just show up on your taskbar down on the bottom there. It says checking for updates. See, it keeps going back. There you go.
Go get some coffee. It's going to take a while to download. In fact, I even put it on my slide: go get a cup of coffee. I think for me it took like 10 to 15 minutes. It, of course, is based on the speed of your internet and your computer and all that stuff. When it's done downloading, you're going to see applying updates. This one's pretty fast. This will only take a minute or two. And then when you're all done, you got this guy: updates were installed.
You successfully rolled back your Office version. You shouldn't have to, but it's a good idea to reboot your computer. You shouldn't need to, but you know how these things are. Rebooting is a good thing. I reboot my computer. I leave it running every night, obviously, because I'm just lazy, but it's a good idea to reboot at least once a week or so.
When you're all done and you come back up in here, you can check and make sure what your version is. That's where you'll see it. That's how you do it.
And again, make yourself a note a month from now: turn your updates back on. Or if you know there's a specific problem, check and make sure that problem's been resolved. And again, shout out to the guys over at Access Forever. They're where I get a lot of my news from, and when there's problems and bugs and stuff, make sure you subscribe to their email updates.
When they tell you that the bug's been fixed, then you can go ahead and update. That's what I do. I wait until I read it from them.
But that's going to be your TechHelp video for today. I hope you learned something. Live long and prosper, my friends. I'll see you next time.
TOPICS:
Rolling back Microsoft Access install
Identifying Access version causing issues
Copying problematic build number
Turning off automatic updates in Access
Running Command Prompt as an administrator
Navigating to the click-to-run folder
Executing rollback command in Command Prompt
Monitoring rollback process and updates
Rebooting computer after rollback
Verifying rolled-back Access version
Restoring automatic updates after rollback
COMMERCIAL:
In today's video from Access Learning Zone, I show you how to roll back your Microsoft Access install. If recent updates have been causing random crashes, even in simple databases, this tutorial will help you revert to a stable version. We'll cover disabling automatic updates, using the Command Prompt as admin, and navigating to the right folders to run the rollback command. You'll also learn best practices for future updates, including a shoutout to Access Forever for their useful resources. You'll find the complete video on my YouTube channel and on my website at the link shown. Live long and prosper my friends.
Quiz
Q1. What is the primary reason mentioned in the tutorial for rolling back a Microsoft Access install?
A. To upgrade to the Enterprise version
B. To fix random crashes and instability
C. To add new features
D. To perform a security update
Q2. Which version of Microsoft Office does the tutorial specifically cover for rolling back?
A. Microsoft Office 2021
B. Microsoft Office 2019
C. Click-to-Run version of Office 365
D. Microsoft Office 2016
Q3. What should you do before running the rollback command in the Command Prompt?
A. Turn off your internet connection
B. Disable automatic updates in Access
C. Update your operating system
D. Back up your databases
Q4. Where do you find the version number that you want to roll back to?
A. In your Access settings
B. On the Access Forever website
C. In the Windows Update settings
D. On Microsoft's update history page
Q5. What is the command-line tool used to run the rollback command?
A. Windows PowerShell
B. Task Manager
C. Command Prompt with administrative rights
D. Registry Editor
Q6. What is one reason given for rebooting your computer after rolling back the Office version?
A. To ensure updated drivers are loaded
B. To finalize the rollback process and stabilize your system
C. To improve internet speed
D. To clear temporary files
Q7. According to the tutorial, what website is recommended for additional instructions and updates related to Microsoft Access bugs?
A. Microsoft Support Page
B. Access Forever
C. TechNet
D. Stack Overflow
Q8. What should you do after successfully rolling back and verifying your Office version?
A. Reinstall your database
B. Turn off your computer for 24 hours
C. Make a note to turn updates back on after a month or a bug fix is announced
D. Upgrade to a newer version immediately
Answers: 1-B; 2-C; 3-B; 4-D; 5-C; 6-B; 7-B; 8-C
DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.
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