Is Microsoft Access slow?

MS Access is not designed for high load such as web server. The most usual bottleneck is file writing Switch to  Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine 2000 (MSDE 2000) or Microsoft SQL Server  2005 Express in this case.

If u have only a few users and the performance is still poor, check your database design. Generally poor performance is due to poor design. Normalize the table but don't over normalize it - there can be too much of a good thing in sometimes. All text fields longer than a few characters should have Unicode Compression set to Yes. Whenever possible, use lookup lists for text fields.  Design the lookup lists with an auto number field to link a lookup table with the main table. Always index fields that you put in the criteria section of the query design screen.  Or, in other words, index all fields on the right side of a where clause. If all else fails: split the query into two or more queries.  Restrict as many records as possible in the first query and use the query as input to the next query.

See also

What are the limitations of MS Access? 
http://www.aspfaq.com/show.asp?id=2195