Hopefully you realize that you can't build it into the database itself. It
has to be a separate program that runs before the database opens. That's
because you can't copy the new version of the front-end overtop the existing
version.

The only thing I see in that code that shouldn't work in Access 97 is the
line:

LocalFile = CurrentProject.Path & "\MyApp.mde"

The equivalent in Access 97 would be:

LocalFile = Left$(CurrentDb.Name, Len(CurrentDb.Name) -
Len(Dir(CurrentDb.Name))) & "MyApp.mde"

If there's anything else that doesn't work, check that your References
collection is okay.

References problems can be caused by differences in either the location or
file version of certain files between the machine where the application was
developed, and where it's being run (or the file missing completely from the
target machine). Such differences are common when new software is installed.

On the machine(s) where it's not working, open any code module (or open the
Debug Window, using Ctrl-G, provided you haven't selected the "keep debug
window on top" option). Select Tools | References from the menu bar. Examine
all of the selected references.

If any of the selected references have "MISSING:" in front of them, unselect
them, and back out of the dialog. If you really need the reference(s) you
just unselected (you can tell by doing a Compile All Modules), go back in
and reselect them.

If none have "MISSING:", select an additional reference at random, back out
of the dialog, then go back in and unselect the reference you just added. If
that doesn't solve the problem, try to unselect as many of the selected
references as you can (Access may not let you unselect them all), back out
of the dialog, then go back in and reselect the references you just
unselected. (NOTE: write down what the references are before you delete
them, because they'll be in a different order when you go back in)

I'm not sure I follow your second issue. How does what your set up compare
to the 3 assumptions Steve documents at the bottom of the page?