FIX: Application Hangs When Inserting Records Into Access 97 Database (254760)

SYMPTOMS

When an application that uses Microsoft Jet database engine 4.0 is rapidly inserting records into a database file that is in Access 97 format, the application may stop responding, or hang, after some random amount of time and the application has to be terminated abnormally. This only occurs when the database file is an Access 97 (Jet 3.51) database format, it does not occur when the database is a Jet 4.0 database.

CAUSE

When Jet 4.0 needs to access a Jet 3.51 database, it loads an additional file to read and interpret the Jet 3.51 database format. This file is the Jet 3.51 ISAM driver Msrd3x40.dll. The hang occurs when this file is in use.

The hang in Msrd3x40.dll is caused by a critical section deadlock, which happens when one thread is preparing to write modified memory pages to disk while another thread is committing data.

RESOLUTION

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Jet service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date      Time    Version      Size           File name     Platform
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   2/16/00           4.00.3816    315,664 Bytes  msrd3x40.dll

Workaround

Convert the database to a Jet 4.0 format.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

This fix was included in Jet 4.0 Service Pack 4.

For more information and to download the latest version of Jet, see the following article:

239114 How To: Obtain the Latest Service Pack for the Microsoft Jet 4.0 Database Engine

Jet 4.0 Service Pack 4 is also installed with MDAC 2.5 SP1. For more information and to download MDAC, go to:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/dataaccess

Starting with MDAC 2.6, Jet components are no longer installed with the Microsoft Data Access Components.

MORE INFORMATION

Manual Installation

Close any applications or services that are using Msrd3x40.dll. This may include Internet Information Server (IIS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and any ODBC, ADO, or OLE DB applications.
Download the hotfix into a temporary directory.
Locate and rename the current versions of Msrd3x40.dll, that should be in the \Winnt\System32 folder for computers running Windows NT, and in the \Windows\System folder for computers running Windows 95 and Windows 98.
Copy the hotfix file into the same location, and then restart your services and applications.