Leon,
It could be one of two things:
Firstly, when you first opened up the database in Access 2003, you would
have received a dialog box asking if you wanted to (a) convert the database,
or (b) just open it without converting. If you chose (b), then Access may
open it as read-only. In which case, you need to do the following:
1. Open Access, without opening a database.
2. From the Tools menu, select Database Utilities | Convert Database |
To Current Access Database Version.
Note: I don't have Access 2003 in front of me right now, so the
actual menu item names might be different.
3. Browse to and select the database, and click OK (or convert, or
whatever).
4. Now try to open the database.
Secondly, if you copied the database from a CD, your pre XP operating system
will have marked the file as read-only. Just open the file's properties and
deselect the read-only checkbox.
Regards,
Graham R Seach
Microsoft Access MVP
Sydney, Australia
Microsoft Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0764559036.html