05-17-2007, 08:08 AM

Ok, new here so I'll just blast the question out and see what comes back:

Situation:

I've been into Macs for quite a while now but our business ,of which I am the manager, is now looking to replace its aging computers with something White and slick (and I don't mean George Michael's latest release).

Since we mainly use Excel and Word for our documentation we're pretty well catered for to shift over to Mac. However, the sticking point is MS Access upon which our whole business revolves. Since we don't want to transfer our existing records to a similar Mac application, as we have built and extensively adapted our database to meet our exact requirements, we have to run Access on a Mac. Now the thought of having to boot our machines every few minutes into either one or another operating systems is a bit of a curdler as in business we simply don't have the time. Conclusively 'Parallels' seems like the ideal way to go as we can have everything Mac except one window which runs XP.

Could anyone who has specific experience of running Parallels give me some feedback as to how well it works, and moreso if any problems have been experienced along the way and how they were cured. If anyone has experience with Access on Parallels then any info would be highly appreciated.

Access is a particularly picky piece of software, although undoubtedly good, and the slightest thing can upset it so before I put my MDs business (and my £50k salary) on the line I'd like to be sure that a Mac will run Access ok.

The machines which are not yet purchased are likely to be five 20" 2.16Ghz Intel iMacs running on a peer to peer network with one host and four clients.

Sorry for a mad long post but since it's a business thing I have to be sure that everything's covered.

Cheers!

BTW, I'm not into Microsoft bashing as I believe they make a good product that the business world understands and uses with reasonable fluidity. Macs on the other hand are targeted more at creativity, reliability and flexibility. Different machines for different uses, although there's no reason why Mac can't be prolific in both arenas.

05-18-2007, 10:01 AM

Cheers.

05-19-2007, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by Filterlab

Cheers.

Suppose you're finishing a brochure on your Mac, and you need a phone number from your company's Microsoft Access database. You double-click the Parallels icon, and 15 seconds later — yes, 15 seconds — Windows XP is running in a window of its own, just as you left it. You open Access, look up and copy the contact information, click back into your Mac design program, and paste. Sweet.

The above quote was taken from here.

-----

Parallels Desktop for Mac lets you run thousands of popular Windows programs, plus many that are not available for the Mac, including ...

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Outlook
ACT!
Goldmine
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Money
Microsoft Publisher
Art Explosion Publisher Pro
Microsoft FrontPage
Hallmark Card Studio
Scrapbook Factory Deluxe
PrintMaster
Punch Home Design Software
Plus thousands more!

Taken from this link.

01-29-2008, 02:00 PM

Hello Filterlab,

I'm wondering if you made the switch to Macs and used Parallels to run Microsoft Access--and if you did so, how is it working for you?

I have an Intel Mac and am about to commit to managing a database using Access. I've never tried to run Windows on my Mac and haven't seen much about running Access, so I'd really appreciate knowing what the experience has been for you. Thanks!

01-29-2008, 02:17 PM

Access works fine, end of story. I use countless tactical apps via access and have never known any to fail - even some that access Oracle databases on the network.

Access seems to work fine in coherence mode too, so you can just have the access app on your OS X desktop. HOWEVER you absolutely MUST have the database on either a windows network, or on the parallels virtual disk, not the OS X extended disc.

01-29-2008, 03:48 PM

Thanks for your response & info, Zoolook--and the tip.

06-10-2009, 01:05 PM

I'm running Parallels ver 4, Leopard 10.5.7, and Windows XP Pro on a Mac Pro with 12 gig ram. MS Access runs fine, well, as well as can be expected ;-), on several Windows XP PCs. I have the data file on a dedicated PC running XP Pro.

But in Parallels, Access is generating errors in the data file. It's corrupting the file. The symptoms are similar to a problem I had several years ago when I was sold a Linksys Network Attached Storage box to serve the data file. CDW neglected to tell me that these boxes are not suitable for hosting a database, since they can drop the connection to the network for very short intervals of time, fractions of seconds. But that's all it takes to cause data corruption in an Access file.

I have the virtual machine running in bridge mode.

The error message I get reads something like, the Jet database can't connect because you are trying to connect to a table at the same time as another user is trying to connect. But this happens even though the Mac Pro is the only computer connected to the data file.

06-20-2009, 04:38 PM

I use a PC for Windows programs - I tried using Parallels on my wife's iMac and between Time Machine, Parallels, the computer hung horribly. I had never had any problems on the iMac for the two or three years or so we have had it. Unlike Windows machines. So, I would keep a Windows PCs for Excel, Word and Access and use Macs for graphics (I have just bought a Mac Mini for videos and photography).
I returned Parallels to Office Depot (had to write to the CEO before I could return it). Main thing with PC is that if they are a reputable make and if you run good virus software and if you ensure that your employees will not practice unsafe computing, the PC will be just fine. I run AVG and Perfect Disk so as to ensure that the PC is optimized constantly.
I will not mix Windows and Mac software on computers now, I have spent way too much time in rebuilding, repairing, etc.

07-24-2010, 10:32 PM

I am new to the forum, Running my business in two separate database situations. One is a independent program called IPM running a post and report system that had written 10 years ago to maintain my Mortuary Insurance Company Collections and Reports. Through a regular and periodic database maintenance allows the Access program to run smoothly and have managed to maintain records for 10 years with little or no errors.

The other database that I call Merged Funeral is a simple one tied to MS Word documents for merging data into our frequently used forms for a clean and neat hard copy as well as computer record. However recently having to upgrade to preserve and maintain my files, I felt that upgrading to an IMac with the use of Parallels along with XP would be the solution. Now that I have the IMac loaded properly and data in place, the simple database (running on the desktop with shortcuts to the MS Word documents as well as the Access database for the records linking 3 tables together) On the opening of the Merged Funeral database, appearing in the dialog box with the 3 table icons; about a week of using this database in Parallels I have come on a error (making the Form Icons Disappear leaving a Dark Gray panel) that is produced by simply moving the mouse to the upper right hand corner of the dialog box making the Form Icons disappear and a slider bar at the bottom of the dialog box slam to the right in a unmovable fashion as if a spring was sprung and will not go back to the left.

When checking the database icon in the desktop it reads to the same size as before the mouse made the fatal disappearance of the Form Icons. As soon as I restore with my back up, the dialog box is back to normal. However repeating the same mouse strokes make the Form Icons disappear again, so far the only way I can prevent the Form Icons from disappearing is to minimize the Access Database Box exactly to the size of the Icon Form Box. (one occurrence I was able to restore to the Form Icons by clicking in upper box area following the disappearance)

Anyone had a similar problem?

Desperate to use the IMac but not to lose my data!!!!