Put the BE on a network server instead of a laptop. I'm guessing that this is
a peer-to-peer network and they can be slow.

Also Access does NOT play well with wireless. I would not trust it to work
right if any of the laptops were connecting to the BE through a wireless
connection.

It could also just be a refreshing issue. If you open and close the form
(without shutting down Access), do the records appear?

Speaking of which, you are viewing the records through forms and reports and
NOT directly though tables and queries, aren't you? There could be some
locking issues othewise.

All users of the database must have at least read, write, and modify
privileges to the folder holding the database file. Not just the database
.mdb file, but the entire folder.

Open the database and go to Tools, Options, and Advanced Tab. Set the
Default Open mode to Shared and the Default Record Locking to Edited Record.
(While you are in the Options area, go over to the General tab and turn off
Compact on Close and Name AutoCorrect. Trust me on this.)

Also, your program should access the minimum number of records and the
minimum amount of data that it needs. Its usually best to have a design that
accesses only one record at a time rather than reading in a list of records.

-Dorian

First, you start out with a story about records not being refreshed fast
enough. The, later on, you explain the time delay is FOREVER, and the ONLY
way is to exit the form/table to show the records.

So, in realty, there is not a particular delay time that you're talking
about is there?

Your above text clearly demonstrates this issue.

you have some good suggestions here already, really this comes down to your
design and how you want to approach this problem.

I can't imagine you using Google and having it display every single hit and
search and then than forcing your pour users to work their way thought this
list.

How come Google, or any other system like an instant bank teller system
doesn't have this problem?

The simple solution here is to ask the user what they need to find in the
first place, and THEN display it. This is really the hallmark of design in
just about every computer system you'll use, be it Google, an instant teller
system, or something that you build yourself.

Here is some ideas:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Search/index.html

loading up a form or interfaced to the user with thousands of records is not
only really difficult for the end user,  but it's also terrible from a
performance point of view.