Jimbo,
Not sure about the URL problem since I've not actually seen the format you mention in action, but it might have a relationship to Apache's mod_rewrite. I don't know if there is an equivalent for IIS. Regarding the MS Access question, read the following tutorial. It should get you started off in the right direction:
http://phpbuilder.com/columns/siddarth20000228.php3
Cheers,
Geoff A. Virgo