Can't access MDB file over local network shares

[Daniel Lamb]

Good day,

I am having an issue with Microsoft Access that is the result of a Win XP
SP3 update, install of IE7 or some other update downloaded and installed.

There are databases on my laptop that I wish to open with Access on my
desktop PC via simple file sharing between the two PCs. This has always
been possible until one of the recent updates. Now, I receive a very long
dialog box which reads:

Microsoft Access cannot open this file.

This file is located outside your intranet or on an untrusted site.
Microsoft Access will not open this file due to potential security problems.

To open this file, copy it to your machine or an accessible location.

---End of dialog box---

Searching on the net and MS Knowledge Base I can not find an applicable
article to resolve this. From the KB website, I obtain this
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303650/en-us or
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810582/en-us. Howver, these articles
pertain to true remote locations using IP addresses or urls and I don't see
how these workarounds can be adapted to local shared folders.

To copy these databases between machines is not something I wish to
consider. Some are masters with replicas and I keep the masters on my
laptop so that I have them whereever I go. Having the master on my desktop
PC would disable me from having one 100% accessible and easily modified on
my laptop for synchronising with other users.

Is there a solution other than restoring my system to a state prior to
install of SP3 and IE7? Is there a known patch that plugs this supposed
security loophole that I can avoid installing?

Any help you can offer would be appreciated and have a Great Day!

 

[Golfinray]

Isn' there an icon for trust settings?

 

[Daniel Lamb]

No, there is no icon for trust settings. I forgot to mention it originally,
this is Access 2002 under Windows XP.

 

[Daniel Lamb]

Hello Chris,

What is a trusted network folder? I keep reading about it but don't know
how it pertains to a folder on a PC using Windows XP file sharing
capabilities. There is the Trusted sites section under Internet
Options|Security Tab but this only pertains to url's or specific IP
addresses.

To answer your question, I don't think the path is in a trusted network
folder unless it is supposed to be by default. There is no IP address or
dots in the path. The path to these mdb files is \\laptop\my documents\.

 

[Daniel Lamb]

Hello again Chris,

Thanks for the help. The problem is now resolved but I have no idea how it
got this state. Before I continue, let me preface this by saying this is a
fairly new installation. There were a number of small problems, this issue
being one of them, and back in August I did a format/reinstall. I held off
on installing about 90 updates and Service Pack 3 until 10 days ago (Service
Pack 2 was installed at initial format/reinstall.). A lot of those updates
disappeared with installation of SP3. A few days ago, I upgraded to IE7
which triggered another round of updates. I omitted a Service Pack 3 for
Office, thinking that was the culprit previouslu.

The solution to this issue was to enter Internet Options through the Control
Panel and click on Security tab. For Internet, Local intranet, Trusted
sites and even Restricted, all security levels were at Custom (I never
touched them before now). I reset them all to the defaults and rebooted. I
still could not access the MDB's over a simple file path of \\laptop\My
Documents. I selected the Local intranet zone, then Sites and then Advanced
button. In that dialog, I could enter \\laptop and when I clicked Add, the
system entered it in the box below as file://laptop . Being more specific as
to folders after that initial domain was not possible. I did a reboot and
now I can open those MDBs via Access.

This is a weird bug that I do not understand for it is particular to
Microsoft Access. I also use some of these databases with an interface
through OpenOffice Base. I can access those files through that program,
over this small home network without fail. These intefaces were built prior
to the format/reinstall of August when I had this same issue develop and
thought of it as a workaround.

I offer this much detail for anyone that incurs the same problem and may
need a resolution. Thanks for your time on this and feel free to get in
touch if you need clarification: dwlamb underscore 001 at hotmail dot com