Comparing tables in Access

[shlingman]

Hello, I need help!

i have two tables with the same information from two different databases - one is entered perfectly and the other has some errors (misspelling, wrong numbers, etc.). i need to locate the information in the incorrect data in the second table by comparing it to the first table. i cannot get the data that i need, and i don't know how to. i have been playing around all day.

is there an easy way to do this in MS access 2000?? I know there has to be a way...

[doctorgonzo]

I am assuming that each table has some sort of primary key defined that you can use to join the two together.

Create a new query with the two tables (tblRight and tblWrong). Join the two tables on the primary key. Then, put the field that you want to check in the query (say Name from tblWrong). In the Criteria line, set the criteria to "Not Like tblRight.Name". That way, it will only display the names in tblWrong that are different from the corresponding names in tblRight. You will probably also want to put the primary key in there in order to determine exactly which records are incorrect.