Instr() function crashes MS Access after 4/4/2024 update to office 16.0.17425.20146

Anonymous
2024-04-05T16:32:38+00:00

After Office updated to version 16.0.17425.20146 my MS Access crashes when running very simple functions. I created a new database with one table and one query.

Table1.Text1
Zebra
x-ray
4x4
Posted to X
Next
axe
None
extreme
wax

This works:

SELECT Table1.Text1, InStr(1,[Text1],"x") AS Field2

FROM Table1;

Query1
Text1 Field2
Zebra 0
x-ray 1
4x4 2
Posted to X 11
Next 3
axe 2
None 0
extreme 2
wax 3

This crashes MS Access before returning any results:

SELECT Table1.Text1, InStr(1,[Text1],"x") AS Field2

FROM Table1

WHERE (((InStr(1,[Text1],"x"))>0));

I tried compact/repair. Tried recreating the database from scratch. Rebooted my computer. I uninstalled and re-installed MS Office.

Any ideas??

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For business | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-04-08T18:43:04+00:00

    >>Query2 --the one designated as not working--crashed Access once, and but then opened correctly on subsequent attempts. Then my VM itself crashed<<

    ****! That sucks. Something definitely wrong with that DLL. Even so, no component of Office should crash a VM like that.

    Don't assume that the ACESS.DLL file on George's VM was involved with the crash on his machine. His crash could have had many different causes, probably hundreds of possibilities.

    https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias

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  2. George Hepworth 23,120 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-04-08T18:59:20+00:00

    As a matter of fact, I was going to comment on that same point.

    No, it was not related. Remember, I said the query opened correctly several times. Then, the VM crashed, but not because of that query.

    Simply rebooting the computer and then the VM cleared the problem, which was more likely due to inadequate memory being available to it.

    After that the query in question worked flawlessly.

    I suggest, again, reinstalling or repairing your Office installation as your next trouble-shooting step.

    Tom's description of a possible scenario where the last update didn't go properly seems a likely possibility. Ruling it in or out by reinstalling Office is a good idea in any event.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-04-08T20:40:50+00:00

    Thanks for all your input. I don't think it was a download-related corruption of that file. It broke when Office was auto-updated. Then I uninstalled Office and reinstalled from the click-to-run online installer. Same problem. Then I uninstalled Office, rebooted, and downloaded the offline installer. Had the same problem. The likelihood of 3 identical corruptions using 3 different installation methods seems remote. I'm more likely to think it's some specific combination of elements on my machine. Maybe that version of the DLL has an incompatibility with a specific version of .NET; or it only crashes when the source database is in a Box.com or Dropbox folder. Or my specific malware defenses are killing a process due to a false positive detection.

    I'm willing to provide relevant information to anyone who wants to dig into the problem.

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