How do I unlock an Access Database?

G

Guest

I have an access database that was previously locked. Now I have to make
changes to it but cannot figure out how to unlock it. The icon has a little
lock on the upper right hand corner, and the menu control options are gone on
the menu when I open it. How do I regain access into it?
 
R

Rick B

Is it an MDB file or an MDE file?

If it is an MDE file, you can't change it. You have to find the MDB that
was used to create it and work off of it, htn save it as an MDE to
distribute to the users.
 
L

Larry Linson

I have an access database that was
previously locked. Now I have to make
changes to it but cannot figure out how to
unlock it. The icon has a little lock on the
upper right hand corner, and the menu
control options are gone on the menu
when I open it. How do I regain access
into it?

If it was just a matter of security being applied, then you would need
either the "overall database password" (that's the least secure kind) or the
"workgroup file" if user/group level security was applied, along with a
userid and password that have the necessary permissions.

Rick is correct that if it has been "compiled to MDE" (the MDE extension
could have been renamed to anything without changing the file), code
modules, and objects which have code modules (forms and reports) are locked
and can't be displayed in design view. And, in any case, that code has been
"tokenized" so is not readable, the comments are gone, and the nice
meaningful names have been replaced with unintelligible pointer indications.

Your best bet is to find the owner or author and obtain the necessary
information or the original MDB. I often develop with an unsecured MDB, just
for convenience, and secure it before distributing it.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
 

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