If you are using Microsoft Access 2000, MS Access 2002, or Access 2003 with Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008, graphs in Access may display immediately when you have more than one version of Access installed.
This is due to how the new versions of Windows control file
permissions on what are referred to as Dynamic Link Libraries
(DLLs). The libraries are used by programs like Access to
carry out commands such as displaying a graph, interacting with
Windows, and more. Unfortunately, when more than one
installation of Access exists on a machine running Windows Vista
or higher, a conflict can occur where the earlier version of
Access will not be able to display graphics properly.
Microsoft released a Hotfix to ensure that Access 2007 displays
graphs correcting following the release of Vista, but has chosen
not to release a similar fix for Access 2000-2003.
Please note that if you have Access 2000, 2002, or 2003 installed alone on Windows Vista or higher, you are not likely to experience this problem with Access.
- Once a form (or dashboard in the case of Dashboard Builder) with a graph is opened, you can minimize then restore the form, which will cause the graphs to appear correctly.
- Click on the blank graph in Access, then click on
something else (another graph, text control, etc), then
click on the graph again. Changing the "focus" causes
Windows and Access to work together to render the graph as
desired.
- Upgrade to Access 2007 or
Access 2010 (understandably not an option for everyone)