<p>Is it possible to prevent the Windows Installer from running every time Access 2003 and Access 2007 are started, when they are both installed on the same machine at the same time..?</p>

<p>Like many developers I need to run more than 1 version of MS Access.  I have just installed Access 2007.  If I open Access 2003 and then open Access 2007 I have to wait 3mins for the 'Configuring Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007..." dialog.  Then if I open Access 2003 again it takes another 30secs or so to configure that.  </p>

<p>PLEASE NOTE: I am using shortcuts to open the files that include the full path to Access.  Eg to open Access 2007:</p>

<pre><code> "C:\program files\microsoft office 12\office12\msaccess.exe" "C:\test.accdb"
</code></pre>

<p>and for 2003:</p>

<pre><code> "C:\program files\microsoft office 11\office11\msaccess.exe" "C:\test.mdb"  
</code></pre>

This is caused by Windows Installer, which is used by both installers. Advertised shortcuts as used by both Office 2003 and Office 2007 invoke Windows Installer to check that the entire feature is installed properly; the installer detects that something else (in this case the other product) has registered the file extensions used by Access (possibly the ProgIds as well) and decides that a repair is necessary, so it invokes the 'Configuring Office' dialog and proceeds to reinstall various components.
To avoid this, run Access from Program Files directly; create shortcuts if you'll be doing this frequently.