[AccessD] Filter versus select in ACC2002

Hello all,
I am having a speed problem with one of my Access 2002 applications
FE/BE (not SQL Server) and I started wondering about whether I was
approaching the filtering properly or not, so I seek advice.

Users currently use a search screen to find a record. The main form that
displays the information has a recordsource that selects all records.
The main form is filtered to the record they want based on the results
from the search form. I think I am doing it all backwards and should in
fact select only the record they have searched for, rather than
filtering.

There are quite a few subforms on this form under tab controls and a
control on one of the subforms loads another form which contains many
subforms. The loading of this screen exhibits the same speed problem
because again the form's recordsource selects all records and when the
user clicks to load it, it filters to the correct record. 

Am I putting undue strain on the network by having the form select all
records then filtering instead of just selecting the record they want? I
imagine that the FE form requests the data, which travels across the
network and is then filtered, is that correct? If I change the
recordsource to select only the record they want, then no filtering
needs to take place and I am thinking that the form loading will be
faster...

Any hints, tips, comments, suggestions??

Cheers
David
Australia