securing and sharing a database

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I've created a database that I will be sharing with the other teachers in my
school - the sharing will be done via a peer to peer network. I've been
having problems securing the database - I now know that I was not sharing the
appropriate .mdw file as well.

Q. When I did a search for any .mdw file on my computer no files were
found? I searched the entire c: (local) drive. I want to delete the .mdw
file as I am being asked for a password to access and Access db.

I decided to create the WIF within the folder that I would be sharing (on my
desktop) - it was my hope that all the neccessary files to share a secure db
would be in this folder - it appears that the .mdw file is in the floder
where I created the WIF - but now - when i click on the icon in the shared
folder I get a message that says I dont have adequate permissions to open the
file and that I need to see the administrator/owner of the file to get the
permissions I need. I don't understand why I'm getting this message when
I've been trying to enter the db as the admin.
 
sryixx4 said:
I've created a database that I will be sharing with the other teachers in my
school - the sharing will be done via a peer to peer network. I've been
having problems securing the database - I now know that I was not sharing the
appropriate .mdw file as well.

Q. When I did a search for any .mdw file on my computer no files were
found? I searched the entire c: (local) drive. I want to delete the .mdw
file as I am being asked for a password to access and Access db.

I decided to create the WIF within the folder that I would be sharing (on my
desktop) - it was my hope that all the neccessary files to share a secure db
would be in this folder - it appears that the .mdw file is in the floder
where I created the WIF - but now - when i click on the icon in the shared
folder I get a message that says I dont have adequate permissions to open the
file and that I need to see the administrator/owner of the file to get the
permissions I need. I don't understand why I'm getting this message when
I've been trying to enter the db as the admin.
Click to expand...

You secured it with an MDW file and then deleted that MDW file because you
didn't like being prompted for a UserName and Password?

If you secure a file properly (most new users don't) and then delete the
MDW file used to secure it then you have locked the file and thrown away
the key.

Can you recover the deleted MDW or have any backups?
 
I've never, until today maybe, known enough about user level security to have
deleted the .mdw files because I though they were the cause of my problem.
To the contrary, I can't find the .mdw files.

In another post, that I think you may have answered, titled "Help! I think I
may have locked ..." I'm having EXACTLY the same problem.

In my case I am in a high school where we just recently networked our
computers. Instead of teachers coming to the media center to input grades
and attendance, it was my plan for each teacher to have this capability on
the computers at their desks. Obviously, I've messed up the database and
would like to start all over again.

I've restored "everything" in my recycle bin - still having the same
problems. At this point I'd like to return to just a couple days ago - the
teachers will have to continue coming to the media center until I can get
this resolved.
 
=?Utf-8?B?c3J5aXh4NA==?= said:
I've never, until today maybe, known enough about user level security
to have deleted the .mdw files because I though they were the cause of
my problem. To the contrary, I can't find the .mdw files.
Click to expand...

Might you have created a custom mdw file on your network? Certainly, you
would need to deploy it in a public area for shared GUI use.

I would highly recommend reading and understanding this before going any
further:

<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/support/access/conte
nt%2fsecfaq.asp>

There's also a step by step security guide on my web site. Always work on
copies of your files!

Regards,
Keith.
www.keithwilby.com
 
sryixx4 said:
I've never, until today maybe, known enough about user level security to have
deleted the .mdw files because I though they were the cause of my problem.
To the contrary, I can't find the .mdw files.

In another post, that I think you may have answered, titled "Help! I think I
may have locked ..." I'm having EXACTLY the same problem.

In my case I am in a high school where we just recently networked our
computers. Instead of teachers coming to the media center to input grades
and attendance, it was my plan for each teacher to have this capability on
the computers at their desks. Obviously, I've messed up the database and
would like to start all over again.

I've restored "everything" in my recycle bin - still having the same
problems. At this point I'd like to return to just a couple days ago - the
teachers will have to continue coming to the media center until I can get
this resolved.
Click to expand...

There's a chance that you didn't apply security correctly enough to really
lock the file completely (very common). Make sure you are joined to the
default System.mdw file and that you are not prompted for login when you
open Access. Then create a new blank file and see if you can import all of
the objects from the original file. If you can, the resulting file will be
a copy of the original with security set identical to the way it was before
you started all of this.

Then get and read the security FAQ and any other resources you can find on
the subject, read them several times and then start again *on a copy* of
your file.

If the import doesn't work then you either have to restore from backup (you
do have backups right?), recreate the file from scratch, or pay some money
to have the security hacked and removed for you.
 
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