Access + Outlook PDF Bug

Did you ever try to put a slightly-too-small lid on a plastic container?

You get one side snapped in place.  But when you try to snap the other side in place, the first side pops up.

Then you start in one spot and slide your way around the container, closing the lid as you go.  But as you approach the spot where you started, the lid starts separating from the rest of the container.  As you slide around the container, you're always chasing that last 5% that won't quite seal.

That must be what it feels like working on the Access team recently.

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

A few weeks ago, the Windows team pushed out an update that broke the Generic Print Driver's integration with Access reports:

The problematic Windows updates were identified.  So too, it seems, was the root cause of the bug within those updates.  Within a few weeks, Microsoft had issued two new Windows updates that fixed the original bug:

Unfortunately, the lid popped open on the other side of the container: we have another bug.

Here's an excerpt from the Access Forever bug report:

Description
A number of people report that Access and Outlook freeze when they try to send an object as PDF via email. This happens when selecting External Data – Email or in macros with SendObject. This usually works once and then freezes the second time.

It appears the fix to the generic print driver bug may have led to this new bug (one which likely affects more users):

Cause
The Windows 11 security update KB5040442 from July 9.

So far, there have only been reports on Windows 11. The sister update for Windows 10 would be KB5040427.

We had recently "praised" these two updates because they fix the printer driver problem that was caused by previous security updates.

For bug workarounds and ongoing status updates, be sure to check out the original article at Access Forever: