SYMPTOMS

When you are exporting a large table to a floppy disk, you receive the error message "Couldn't write to file."

CAUSE

This error occurs when you export a table to a floppy disk in fixed-width or delimited text format, and there is not enough room on the floppy disk for the exported file.

Note that this error can also occur when you export a table to your hard disk if there is not enough room on the hard disk for the exported file.

RESOLUTION

Export the table to a disk with sufficient space for the exported file.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Access versions 1.0 and 1.1. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Insert a floppy disk with less then 10,240 bytes of free space in the appropriate floppy disk drive.
2. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database NWIND.MDB.
3. From the File menu, choose Export. In the Data Destination box, select "Text (Delimited)" and then choose OK.
4. In the Objects In NWIND box, select the Orders table, and then choose OK.
5. In the Export To File dialog box, select the floppy disk drive that contains the disk you inserted in step 1, and then choose OK. During the export, you receive the error message stated above.