Why can't I delete a user?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I have just used the User-Level Security Wizard for the first time in Access
2000 and rapidly realised that this is not a trivial topic (as evidenced by
the 47 numbered sections in the MS Access Security FAQ!).

My first surprise was that it was not just the MDB file that I processed via
the Wizard that was affected. Now I have to logon to every one of my Access
databases, but I guess I can live with that if it is unavoidable.

I initially created some users before I found out that there is a
14-character limit. I now want to delete these users and recreate them using
a more compact format. My problem is that the Wizard has greyed out the
'Delete User from List' button, even though I have logged on as
Administrator. The FAQ does not seem to address this issue.

So how do I delete a user?
 
David Anderson said:
I have just used the User-Level Security Wizard for the first time in Access
2000 and rapidly realised that this is not a trivial topic (as evidenced by
the 47 numbered sections in the MS Access Security FAQ!).
Click to expand...

The wizard is flawed in 2000, so you should secure it manually.
My first surprise was that it was not just the MDB file that I processed via
the Wizard that was affected. Now I have to logon to every one of my Access
databases, but I guess I can live with that if it is unavoidable.
Click to expand...

Every session of Access uses a mdw file. By default, it uses system.mdw out of the box. The wizard decided that your new secure mdw should be set as the default. Use Start, Run, wrkgadm.exe and you'll see the path to the current default mdw. Click on Join, and rejoin the standard system.mdw that ships with Access (search for it first, so you know where it is)
I initially created some users before I found out that there is a
14-character limit. I now want to delete these users and recreate them using
a more compact format. My problem is that the Wizard has greyed out the
'Delete User from List' button, even though I have logged on as
Administrator. The FAQ does not seem to address this issue.
Click to expand...

You need to select the user first, and then Delete User. You may be trying to delete the 'Admin' user, which isn't possible.
 
Thanks for your assistance, Joan. I'll try to change the default mdw as per
your instructions. However, I'm still stuck on the user deletion issue. As I
said in my original post, I was trying to delete users I had created myself
(in a previous User-Level Security Wizard session), not standard users such
as Admin. Each user name I was trying to delete was indeed selected at the
time, but the 'Delete User from List' button was greyed out. I exited Access
and tried again more than once but it was the same every time. The only users
I have ever been able to delete were ones I had just created in the current
Wizard session.

What else might I be doing wrong?

David
 
I am logging on as Administrator and my 'One-Step Security Wizard Report'
tells me that Administrator is a member of the Admins group, so the answer to
your question is yes. I also tried logging on as Admin, but the result was
just the same.

David
 
Joan,
I have taken your advice to 'rejoin' the standard system.mdw file so that my
unsecured apps no longer ask for a password. However, my secured database
now gives me an error message instead of the logon screen. I checked Section
19 of the Security FAQ ('How do I work with a security-enabled application
and an unsecured application at the same time?'), which seems to address
this issue, but was unable to implement the suggested solution.

The FAQ tells me to create a desktop shortcut for my secured Access 2000
application, with something like the following "directly on the command line
of the icon".

c:\msoffice\access\msaccess.exe /wrkgrp c:\myapp\secacc.mdw

I have tried creating a shortcut, where the "Target" field of the Properties
box contains my version of the above command, but as soon as I try to save
it I get a 'The name .... specified in the Target box is not valid' error.
There is nothing called a command line in the shortcut properties box.

Have I misunderstood something?

David





David Anderson said:
I have just used the User-Level Security Wizard for the first time in
Access
2000 and rapidly realised that this is not a trivial topic (as evidenced
by
the 47 numbered sections in the MS Access Security FAQ!).
Click to expand...

The wizard is flawed in 2000, so you should secure it manually.
My first surprise was that it was not just the MDB file that I processed
via
the Wizard that was affected. Now I have to logon to every one of my
Access
databases, but I guess I can live with that if it is unavoidable.
Click to expand...

Every session of Access uses a mdw file. By default, it uses system.mdw out
of the box. The wizard decided that your new secure mdw should be set as
the default. Use Start, Run, wrkgadm.exe and you'll see the path to the
current default mdw. Click on Join, and rejoin the standard system.mdw that
ships with Access (search for it first, so you know where it is)
I initially created some users before I found out that there is a
14-character limit. I now want to delete these users and recreate them
using
a more compact format. My problem is that the Wizard has greyed out the
'Delete User from List' button, even though I have logged on as
Administrator. The FAQ does not seem to address this issue.
Click to expand...

You need to select the user first, and then Delete User. You may be trying
to delete the 'Admin' user, which isn't possible.
 
The target of the shortcut would have the following in it (your sample seems odd to me - i.e. the path to msaccess.exe)
"path to msaccess.exe" /wrkgrp "path to secure mdw"

If you want to open a specific database then use:
"path to msaccess.exe" "path to secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to secure.mdw"

Do a search for msaccess.exe to ensure you get the correct path; and also enclose the path in double quotes, as above; they are needed when any path has spaces in it.
 
Joan,
That wasn't my sample; it was an exact quote from the FAQ.

Your sample text solved the problem. I had everything held within one set of
double quotes, while your sample made it clear that the /wrkgrp switch had
to be outside the quotes.

Thanks again for your assistance.

David




The target of the shortcut would have the following in it (your sample seems
odd to me - i.e. the path to msaccess.exe)
"path to msaccess.exe" /wrkgrp "path to secure mdw"

If you want to open a specific database then use:
"path to msaccess.exe" "path to secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to secure.mdw"

Do a search for msaccess.exe to ensure you get the correct path; and also
enclose the path in double quotes, as above; they are needed when any path
has spaces in it.
 
I think the quotes are necessary if there are spaces in any of the folder or
file names in the path. Jack MacDonald's paper has a detailed description
of how to use various types of shortcuts.
http://www.geocities.com/jacksonmacd/
Click on the "Security paper by Jack MacDonald" link; I used the link above
because the page contains an assortment of other useful links. Joan's page
has a similar collection of links, as I recall. Many of the others do, too.
 
Joan,
I would appreciate it if you would expand a little on the flaws of the
User-Level Security Wizard in Access 2000. I have already used the wizard to
secure my database. Are there some good reasons why I should now unsecure
this database and then resecure it manually? My only problem so far has been
the inability to delete an existing user.

David

BTW, If necessary, I would use the helpful procedures you have put on your
website for unsecuring a database and securing it manually. Thanks for
those.



David Anderson said:
I have just used the User-Level Security Wizard for the first time in
Access
2000 and rapidly realised that this is not a trivial topic (as evidenced
by
the 47 numbered sections in the MS Access Security FAQ!).
Click to expand...

The wizard is flawed in 2000, so you should secure it manually.
 
Back
Top