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csall

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How to hide or cover Start Menu bar in Access

When access opens the Switchboard, is there a way to cover or hide the start menu bar at the bottom of the screen?  I am trying to make prevent users of the database from 1/2 entering data or entering false data.  The problem is that with the Start Menu bar showing while access is running, I have had users close the program when they were 1/2 way through entering data in a form.  This has caused a problem because data is missing and will cause an error in the database when used later.

Please help me find a way to hide the start menu by covering it up with a form, or disabling the start menu while running Access.
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n8ivtxn75
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Right click on a blank area of the start bar and select properties. You will see these settings. I guess you want to auto hide.
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'I am trying to make prevent users of the database from 1/2 entering data or entering false data.'

I don't see how hiding the task bar has any relevance to your problem.
Surely you should be adding appropriate validation to your data entry form to reduce the opportunities for incorrect data to be entered.
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sbafna74

right click on start menu button and select properties, then select task bar under that you will find
keep the taskbar on top of other windows will checked, UNCHECK that and then click ok thats it now when ever you open any application startmenu as well the taskbar will not appear untill all the applications are closed however it may appear if you press start button on keyboard
As peter57r said, you need to validate the user input.
Access saves the current record if it's Dirty when it closes a form. Add validation code to the BeforeUpdate event, if the data is invalid set Cancel = True and inform the user - Access then won't close.
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ASKER

I have validation rules in place to make sure data is entered into required fields.  I also have validation rules on some fields to ensure data is in the correct format.  The problem is that with the Start menu bar showing on the bottom of the screen, the user can close Access when they have 1/2 entered data into a form, thus skipping the validation rules.

Note:  I have a close button that when pressed goes through a series of validations before allowing the form to close.  If Access is closed using the Start menu bar, it skips the validation rules.  I would move the validation rules to when the form closes, but if someone decides to back out of the form and not save the data (I have a button that erases the data and closes the form), it would not allow the person to close the form becuase the data is blank.

n8ivtxn75 is correct, I need to auto hide the Start menu button, or disable while access is open.

auto hide will bring back the start menu once the mouse is broght down where as by keeping your current running application above the start menu will not allow user to see the start menu until they finish and properly exit the application
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ASKER

If I uncheck the box "keep the task bar on top of other windows" I get the result I want.  The problem is that if I do not load the database on to a persons computer, the task bar will still be on top.  
Is there any way to put programming into access that will put an open form ontop of the task bar so it is in effect hidden?
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MikeToole
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Checking the validation prior to record updating was the solution.  I found if the record was cleared and deleted, it was not updating, so it by passed the validation rule as needed.  Otherwise if any data was entered, you had to have it all entered because of the validation rules.  Works like a charm.  Thanks.