One of the more common complaints about Microsoft Access databases is that some screens are slow to respond. This is often misinterpreted as poor performance on the part of the database engine but the real culprit is usually the screen design. Here are a few techniques that developers can use to improve screen responsiveness. It is far too easy to create a screen that fetches all the records in a table. Such a time consuming exercise is seldom necessary and serves only to make screens appear sluggish.
Users are usually interested in a few or perhaps only one specific record.
They may simply wish to add a new record. In either case, it is a waste of time to fetch enormous quantities of data. If you are on a local area network, you will not only slow down your own application but probably annoy most of your cohorts by greatly increasing network traffic. Allow the user to enter criteria in the form header. It is quicker to refresh an existing form after the user enters criteria than it is to load a new form while fetching data.