Old Access DB; new machine; cannot open. Locked out of my own creation!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tonij
  • Start date Start date
T

Tonij

Hi all,

A few years ago I created, with the help of an Access guru, a handy
inventory database. I am now in a different location on a totally
unrelated project. I recently dug up a copy of this db that I had
archived, and when I go to open it I get the error:

"You do not have the necessary permisions to use the "<filename>"
object. Have your system administrator or the person who created this
object establish the appropriate permisions for you"

I have seen numerous posts on this error and they seem to cover a
broad range of issues, so I am posting my own because none of the
previous posts are very similar to my problem. Here are the things I
know for sure:

- I am the one who created this database. Years ago, on Access 97.
- I have full control over my PC(admin rights)
- I only need a stand alone working version of this database, no
networking magic.
- I do not have access to Access 97 anymore.
- I have the system.mdw file, but I can not recall what the group or
user names were.

Am I SOL here or is there anyway on earth I can ever open my own
database again?

TIA,
 
One of the users in your Database is the Admin user. When
the database was secured, this user was given a password.
If you can remember the password, you'll be able to get
in. The first step though is to join the Security
Workgroup (the System.mdw). Based on the error you are
receiving I don't think you have. In Access XP, you can
do this from within Access by selecting Tools > Security
Workgroup Administrator and join your system.mdw file.
Click to expand...
You should then get the login dialog box the next time
you open Access. In earlier versions of Access you have
to join the work group by navigating to the Work Group
Administrator executable file in Program Files. The help
files can guide you through this if you need additional
info. If you join your security work group and you can't
get in, you will need to join the delivered system.mdw in
order to remove security against Access. Otherwise, you
won't be able to open any Access database. The delivered
system.mdw file is located in different places, depending
on your operating system. I usually just do a search in
Windows Explorer to find it. If you can't remember any
user and password and your secured .mdw file is named
system.mdw, you may still be to get in, depending on how
the security was set up. I've done it before on a demo
version of some Access based we were demoing, but I need
to try to replicate that before I can tell you how to do
it.
Larry
 
Thanks for the replies,

I forgot to mention, I am currently using Access 2002.

I did a search for system.mdw and found a few in addition to the
original from the old database. Are you saying I need to take the old
one (from the Access 97 db) and replace the other one I found on my
system?

Now I am a little nervous of locking myself out of my new
databases...and I can't remember what the workgroup/admin password was
from my old DB :(
Honestly, I have no idea why I secured the thing in the first place.
 
I would try these steps
1. Copy the Access 97 .mdw file to a folder that is
different from all the other system.mdw files you found.
2. Open Microsoft Access and on the menu Select Tools,
Secury, Workgroup Administrator.
3. When the Workgroup Administrator dialog box comes up,
click the Join button. Browse to the Access 97 system.mdw
file. Choose Open or double click. Then choose ok. You
have now joined this security workgroup.
4. Close MS Access and reopon and try to open your
database or any database. If you are prompted for a user
and password, then this System.mdw file has modified
security against it (in other words, it's secured). If
you had some ideas to try for a password for the Admin
user, go ahead and try, Access will not lock you out. At
this point, don't panic if you can't get in to any of
your other databases (I did when I was learning. Step 5
will fix this). If you are not prompted for a user and
password, there is no security against it and you have
another issue. If you can't get past the security you may
be SOL for your old Access 97 database.
5. To be able to Access your other databases, you will
need to rejoin one of the original system.mdw files you
found during your search. Follow steps 1 and 2 to join
one of the other system.mdw files. In Windows XP the
System.mdw is buried under Documents and Settings. In
other operating systems it's usually under Windows\System
32. If all else fails, you can reinstall Access and it
will restore the original system.mdw file.
This weekend, I'm might play around with some other ways
you might be able to get in (I actually find this fun!).
But don't hold your breathe, Security wouldn't be very
secure if it were easy to get around it. I'm pretty sure
I got into a database one time that had security, and
they modifed the original system.mdw and didn't change
the name of it. If I can replicate that it might hold
hope for you, depending on how the security was set up. I
you like, you may email me direct at
(e-mail address removed).
Good Luck.
 
I would try these steps
Click to expand...

Thanks,

I went through the steps you suggested, I copied the system.mdw from
my old Accss 97 db to a new location and joined it from within Access
2002. It said I succesfully joined the group. Then I closed Access
and started it back up and was still able to get into my new database
(good news). I did not need to rejoin the original system.mdw to be
able to open any new database I have created in Access 2002.

But...

I am getting the exact same error as before when trying to open the
old db, i.e. the "You do not have permissions..." error. I am not
prompted for a password or anything, it almost looks as if nothing has
changed at all but I followed your steps to the letter...

Any ideas?
 
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