This is not a compatibility issue
per se, but it is another Microsoft "gotcha" that we recently ran into.
Late last year we happened to open an older MDB Access database which was created using v. 7 of Probe for EPMA (the MDB file was created in 2007). Back in 2007 we were using the Access 97 database format. When the current version of PFE tried to open the database we got the following error:
Even trying to open the database with old versions of PFE didn't help. When we first saw this, we assumed that we had somehow broken something, but we were wrong! It was Microsoft! Here is an explanation:
https://www.devhut.net/2019/01/12/access-97-bug-unrecognized-database-format/The really weird thing was that these older MDB files could be opened just fine on some computers, but on other computers (same MDB file, same EXE, same OS), we'd get the "unrecognized database format" error. Anyway, after thrashing around a bit, we tried to modify the msi installer script to add back in some older DAO controls that we had removed when we migrated to Access 2000 a few years later (which did not help). Then all of a sudden these old databases from 2007 starting working again with Probe for EPMA!
So what happened? What happened was that on one of the computers with the "unrecognized database format" issue, we got a message that Windows had some updates that needed to be installed. So we allowed the updates to install, and lo and behold, we could open these old Access 97 MDB files again no problem.
When we looked at the installed updates from Microsoft, there was about 50 different Microsoft Office updates. Apparently one of them fixed this Access database problem which Microsoft had created earlier in a previous update. As to why some computers never saw the issue, but others did- we have no idea. I guess we live (and die) by Microsoft...
Anyway, now that that particular drama is done with, we wanted to let you all know that we did find a work around that fixed the issue, and although it is no longer necessary, we thought we would mention it. We found that one can open these Access 97 format MDB files in Microsoft Access and convert them to the Access 2000 format. After the conversion, the databases can again be opened with Probe for EPMA even before the Microsoft Office fix had been applied!
The basic procedure is to open the file in Microsoft Access (our version was Office 2010), and when prompted to convert the database, say No (though this may be unnecessary because it seems to convert the file anyway!), then click the File | Save & Publish menu, then select the Microsoft 2000 Database option, then click save As and enter a different file name. That should save the Access 97 database to the Access 2000 format. After this, Probe for EPMA can open the MDB file with no problems.
Anyway, it appears that Microsoft has now fixed their own bug, so we should all be OK for now, though please let us know if you run across anything strange or have other information on this issue.