Access password issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter William Brasseur
  • Start date Start date
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William Brasseur

Forgive my ignorance but i've just started using Access
and can't seem to find what i need in here, probably
because i'm still not quite sure what to look for.

So i am a user in a Windows 2000 domain. No matter what
i try i cannot gain access to this database. I get a
user/password prompt that will not accept my user name.
As far as i can tell, only one user can, and only from
her PC.

I am a member of the administrators and domain admins
group in the domain while she is just a domain user.
Last week we edited the secured.mdw file and added some
people but like i said i don't really know what i'm doing.

Today we tried to access the Access database from a
different PC using her login and we got the same
Insufficient Priviledges message everyone else gets.

I tried looking for the Wrkgadm.exe file but it is not
installed on our server or on my PC (which is the IT PC
so i would think it would have had it). I found the 16
bit version of the file on an office 2000 disk but we use
Office XO pro on WinXP Pro/Win2000 Pro.

Furthermore, my predecessor did not document this
database at all so i have no idea what the user name and
password of the admin users are.

I thought maybe one of you could point me in the right
direction to quickly gain access to the database and add
some users to it as well. Contact me if you need more
information or if none of this makes sense. Thanks.

~ William
 
William, Access security is a complex beast. There is a fundamental
contradiction between wanting to: "quickly gain access to the database and
add some users to it", and admitting that: "i don't really know what i'm
doing". You would be well advised to find out how it all works, before you
start trying to change it!

You are probably using the wrong "workgroup information file" to open the
database. Usernames & passwords are stored in workgroup files - not database
(MDB/MDE) files. If a database has been secured using Access user-level
security, it can only be opened when you use the correct workgroup file. A
wokgroup file that works with one secured database, will not >necessarily<
work with a different secured database.

Workgroup files nomally have an MDW extension. Search for all those files,
on the relevant boxes. Then create a shortcut of the following format (all
on one line):

"full path to MSACCESS.EXE"
"full path to MDB file"
/wrkgrp "full path to MDW file"

Try starting the database using that shortcut. Try different MDW files in
the shortcut (one at a time!), until you find the one that works. That is
the proper workgroup file to use with that particular database.

Then find the "Access Security FAQ" (or similar document), & spent >at least
a few weeks< reading that document, & experimenting on test databases, to
get the hang of how it all works!

HTH,
TC
 
TC you are a god. Thanks for pointing me in the right
direction. The shortcut was pointing to a different file
on the users desktop instead of the right file on the
server. Thanks and happy holidays!

~ William
 
No probs!

TC


William Brasseur said:
TC you are a god. Thanks for pointing me in the right
direction. The shortcut was pointing to a different file
on the users desktop instead of the right file on the
server. Thanks and happy holidays!

~ William
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