Duplicate record overwrites other records

[ew]

I have a odd problem with Access. I have the table set to not allow
duplicates. When one user makes changes to a record and closes out and
the next user opens a different record(using a query to open based on
unique criteria) it overwrites that record with the record the previous
person had open. So I end up with duplicate records(even though they
are not allowed) and the other record has been comepletely erased. We
have to recreate it from old backups or paper copies.

Any ideas what could be causing this problem or how I could stop it?
This is a severe issue for us.

 

[jahoobob via AccessMonster.com]

Technically, this is not a duplicate record since it overwrites a record. A
duplicate record would have the exact same data as another, including the PK.
I would look at the criteria of the query first. I certainly hope that the
data is being entered via a form and not the query. Try giving te users a
data entry form where they have a blank record presentred to them.
Have you observed the second user when this happens? Does it always happen
that Tim overwrites a record entered by Mary and not the other way? Does it
happen everytime a second user enters data? My guess is that the second user
is really overwriting data in the form or query.

 

[ew]

By PK do you mean primary key? Because that is also a duplicate even
though the database is set to not allow duplicates. All the data is the
same between the two records. The reason I say overwrite is because the
one record disappears and the other record has two identical copies,
and if you order the table by primary key the new copy shows up where
the missing record would've been, even though it's not where the new
copy should be based on the key. If I do a repair and compact on the
database the two identical records will then be next to each other of
you order the table by primary key.

The data is being entered in a form. The form is being run off of a
query that pulls up the record based on an ID number that the user
enters - The query brings up the box asking for the criteria before the
form comes up and is populated.

This has only happened a total of 10 times or less. So we're able to
run the query in the same environment for days without problem. The
queries and forms are stored on the local hard drives but the table is
on a shared drive, so I do not believe they could overwrite the data
through the form or query when they are using seperate computers? It's
pretty much impossible to duplicate the problem constantly since they
seem to be able to do hundreds of records in between.