Can't open my access database

  • Thread starter Thread starter SKReed
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SKReed

I have a problem I hope that someone can help me with. A few days ago our
access database started acting weird. My small office is set up with peer
to peer networking. At first, the file would open from only one of the
network computers - but not the computer that it actually resided on. That
computer received an error when trying to open the file. The computer that
it was opening on came up with a box for a password, however, a password has
never been established for this file. We would leave the password field
empty, and it would open. A few days later, it stopped opening altogether
from any computer. Now it says "Microsoft Office Access couldn't find file
security.mdw. This file is required for startup." I have searched everywhere
for this file, and I can't find it either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Sounds like it was corrupted. If you are absolutely certain that no
password has been set on the database, this is typically a sign that someone
opened the mdb file in Word. In that case, it is hopelessly corrupted;
you'll have to restore from a backup.

The message about not finding 'security.mdw' - does it really ask for that,
or for system.mdw?
 
Thanks for your answer. It does really say security.mdw. When I try to
open it from the computer that it resides on, I get a different error
message. It says "You do not have the necessary permissions to use the
database.mdb object. Have your system administrator or the person who
created this object establish the appropriate permissions for you."
 
SKReed said:
I have a problem I hope that someone can help me with. A few days ago
our access database started acting weird. My small office is set up
with peer to peer networking. At first, the file would open from
only one of the network computers - but not the computer that it actually
resided on. That computer received an error when trying to
open the file. The computer that it was opening on came up with a
box for a password, however, a password has never been established
for this file. We would leave the password field empty, and it would
open. A few days later, it stopped opening altogether from any
computer. Now it says "Microsoft Office Access couldn't find file
security.mdw. This file is required for startup." I have searched
everywhere for this file, and I can't find it either. Any help would be
greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

I can only suggest that it may be corrupted and it may be time to go to
the backup. I will also suggest that Access is happy with very good LANs
but if the LAN is a little weak, that can cause problems.

If there is a FILENAME.LDB file when no one is in the file, you need to
manually delete that file. Along those lines every user needs full read
write create and delete rights to the directory with the files.

You may want to start by reading
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];207793

Access security is a great feature, but it is, by nature a complex product
with a very steep learning curve. Properly used it offers very safe
versatile protection and control. However a simple mistake can easily lock
you out of your database, which might require the paid services of a
professional to help you get back in.

Practice on some copies to make sure you know what you are doing.
 
OK, that sounds like it is a secured mdb, and the machines were joined by
default to security.mdw. Where is this file located? That is the file
Access looked for on starting, and since it couldn't find it, it create a
new pristine system.mdw workgroup file to use. This new workgroup file
doesn't contain any users that have permission to open the database.

You need to find security.mdw (you might have to go to a backup, if someone
has deleted it).

Then I suggest you create a desktop shortcut to start the mdb with the
following in the target:
"path to msaccess.exe" "path to mdb" /wrkgrp "path to secure.mdw"
 
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