Unable to open database

[Guest]

Client is trying to work with database that was originally created in an
older version of Access - not sure what version but the workgroup file is a
..mda file. The client was recently upgraded to Access 2003/WinXP. The person
who created the database has left the company and the new "administrator"
does not really know that much about Access. The best solution would probably
be to recreate the entire database in Access 2003 with an mdw file, etc, but
that's not real likely to happen at the moment. As a workaround, they had
their local IT install Office 2000 on top of Office 2003. There is a shortcut
for the database. Everything in the target is pointing to the location of
Access 2000, the database on the J drive and the mda file which is also on
the J drive. When double clicking on the shortcut, the logon screen appears.
The username is already displayed and there is no password. After clicking
OK, the database window flashes and then a dialog box appears that says the
name and path of the file is not available. The odd thing is that the name
and path listed is a totally different database on the I drive. Any ideas of
what to check to see why it is looking for a different database? I even
changed the paths in the target to point to the actual server and folder
rather than designating the drive by the letter.

 

[SusanV]

An mda file is an add-in to a separate database - it isn't the actual
database. You need to find the mdb

 

[Guest]

The shortcut to the database he is trying to open does correctly have in the
target the path to Access, the path to the database and the path to the mda
file. However, it appears to be trying to open another database that the
target does not identify.

 

[SusanV]

Sorry, you lost me in all this - is there an actual mdb involved? Or just
the actual Access application and the mda file? An mda file will look for
the associated mdb to open - that's expected behavior. For the moment I
would set aside the mda and look for an mdb - or an mde, which is a compiled
database file.

 

[Guest]

There is no mde file involved. There is a mdb. A mda file is what Access used
to create in old versions (Access 2) where the permissions are stored - now
Access creates mdw files for permissions. He was able to open the mdb which
was associated with the permissions in the mda file prior to having Access
2000 installed on top of Access 2003. I'm wondering if this may have
something to do with the problem. But I still don't understand why the
database flashes open, closes and then there is a dialog box saying that the
file name and path is not valid for an entirely different database than we
are trying to open.

 

[ginnyk]

Does this mdb have links to tables in another database? Did that
database used to exist on the I drive? Maybe all you need to do is
update the links with the Linked Table Manager? Just an idea. Good
luck

 

[ginnyk]

Does this mdb have links to tables in another database? Did that
database used to exist on the I drive? Maybe all you need to do is
update the links with the Linked Table Manager? Just an idea. Good
luck

 

[dbahooker]

MDB is crap.

grow some balls and use SQL Server

Access Data Projects are the best reporting platform anywhere.

-Aaron