Linked Server

I'm curious if any database guru has this experience.

I setup the ODBC connection with the 3rd party software CONNX. Linking the database from MS Access, I get the query result within 5 seconds. But when I use the linked server in SQL 2005 Express, nothing shows up after 5 minutes(I ended up cancelling the query). How would anyone resolve this issue? Thank you.

If I understand the issue correctly, you're using Linked Server in SQL Express to connect to a Microsoft Access database, right? Not sure what's happening, but try to new a test.udl file on your desktop, then double click to open it->choose the same provider as used in the Link Server->configure it to connect to the Access database file and test the connection. If the test succeeds, then use execute some as following to test the linked server:

select top 0 * fromyourAccessServerName...Table1