UAC/trust issue

[FPS, Romney]

Hi,
I have a Microsoft Access database running on a local Vista computer that
uses code to copy a file from a shared network folder. If I turn off UAC on
the local computer, the code works fine ... the file is copied from the
shared network folder to this particular computer. If UAC is left on, the
code runs without any alerts or error messages, but the file has not been
copied.

How do I have Vista treat this shared network folder as a "trusted" site?
Thank you.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Where on the local computer are you copying to? The location on the local
computer is more likely to cause the problem.

 

[FPS, Romney]

Hi Kerry,
I'm copying to the same folder in which the database resides.

BTW: It's a "split" database. The desktop icon opens the frontend database,
which then looks for the data in a separate database, which in this case
happens to be located in this same folder. When I first tried to open the
database on this new computer, I had to tell Vista to "trust" this folder
and the files/programs within that folder in order for the frontend database
to be able to access the data in the backend database. There was an option
in one of the Vista message boxes to go to the "Trust Center". Once I did
that, I could then specify this folder and its contents as "trusted". I
thought I could find this "Trust Center" and then point to the shared
network folder, but no luck.

 

[Kerry Brown]

You probably have to set the NTFS security for both folders. What is the
path to the folder on the local computer? Depending where it is you may need
to take ownership as well.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/search.aspx?=&qu=ntfs+security

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/31ad4562-aee7-4fed-8316-89114dc973031033.mspx

 

[FPS, Romney]

Kerry,
I don't know what NTFS security is, but thanks for the links -- I guess I'll
have to take the time to learn about it.
The path to the local folder is C:\Access97. ("Access97" is just the name of
the folder).

Further info:
Vista is on a laptop which occasionally plugs into our LAN.

The laptop has a local copy of the frontend and backend databases. These
databases are stored in C:\Access97 on the laptop.

Also on the laptop is an icon for the shared network folder. This is a
password protected folder and has been mapped on the laptop as
"p:\sharedfolder\". This shared folder resides on an XP machine.

The user plugs into our LAN for several reasons:
1. To use the internet (no problem)
2. To use the network printer (no problem)
3. To transfer stuff from their database to the network database located at
"p:\sharedfolder\database.mdb" (no problem).
-- in order to transfer stuff to the network database, the user first logs
onto "p:\sharedfolder\" by double-clicking their desktop icon and entering
the correct username and password. Once they're logged on, they can transfer
stuff from their database into the main system.
4. With WinXP, the user could also update their own database by first
logging into "p:\sharedfolder\" as described above, and then clicking a
button in their database which would then copy "database.mdb" from
"p:\sharedfolder\" and replace their older copy on their laptop (this is the
part that no longer works).

I guess I need to take the time to read the two links you supplied. (I think
Microsoft could have made this task a lot easier for the user to find out
what they needed to do -- more obvious buttons, prompts, or options when
you right-click a file or folder, for example).

Thanks again for your help.
Mark

 

[Kerry Brown]

NTFS is the basis for file security in all NT based versions of Windows
going back to Windows NT. I know that older versions of Access have some
problems with how UAC affects this in Vista. You may want to repost this
question on the access newsgroup - microsoft.public.access

 

[FPS, Romney]

Thanks for the response, Kerry.
But, this is Access 2000/2002. You may be right that this is an Access
problem, but it's not an older version of Access. I believe it's simply a
question of telling Vista that it's safe to copy a file from a specific
folder on a mapped drive on the LAN. (In a separate matter, I did run into a
problem trying to re-install an older version of Access (Access 97) on a
replacement computer that was updated[??] to Vista. Access 97 installed
fine, but SR2 was unable to complete its installation. I'll post that
problem to the Access newsgroup).

I haven't had a chance to read through the links you provided, but isn't
there a simple way to point to a specific folder or location on the network
and designate this as "safe"? Meanwhile, leaving UAC turned off allows the
database to copy from that mapped drive/folder without any problem.

Thank you.
Mark

 

[FPS, Romney]

Kerry,
I stumbled upon a post by "Leo" (8/14/07) which may be the steps I need to
take. I wasn't thinking in terms of "taking ownership" of anything, but
maybe that's the same as marking something "safe" -- ??? I'll try it next
time I have access to that computer.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Unfortunately security is a complicated thing. In NT based versions of
Windows there has never been an easy way to say "This folder is safe". You
have to use user accounts combined with NTFS permissions. In previous
versions of Windows everyone ran as an administrator account. This lead to
many poor programming practices. Vista enforces security and breaks many
things that used to work. The reason it breaks them is because the programs
assume the user can do anything. I suspect that all you have to do is set
the NTFS permissions on the C:\Access97 folder but I could be wrong.
Microsoft has also been guilty of poor programming in the past and many
older Microsoft programs have problems with the security in Vista. Access
2000/2002 is an old program. I highly recommend you post these questions in
the Access newsgroup. There are Access experts there who will know if it's
an Access problem or just a permissions problem.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca

Thanks for the response, Kerry.
But, this is Access 2000/2002. You may be right that this is an Access
problem, but it's not an older version of Access. I believe it's simply a
question of telling Vista that it's safe to copy a file from a specific
folder on a mapped drive on the LAN. (In a separate matter, I did run into
a
problem trying to re-install an older version of Access (Access 97) on a
replacement computer that was updated[??] to Vista. Access 97 installed
fine, but SR2 was unable to complete its installation. I'll post that
problem to the Access newsgroup).

I haven't had a chance to read through the links you provided, but isn't
there a simple way to point to a specific folder or location on the
network
and designate this as "safe"? Meanwhile, leaving UAC turned off allows the
database to copy from that mapped drive/folder without any problem.

Thank you.
Mark

NTFS is the basis for file security in all NT based versions of Windows
going back to Windows NT. I know that older versions of Access have some
problems with how UAC affects this in Vista. You may want to repost this
question on the access newsgroup - microsoft.public.access

 

[FPS, Romney]

Thanks, Kerry.

I totally believe you when you say "security is a complicated thing". I
don't know much about computers, but I do know that what goes on behind a
simple point and click button on a user's screen is very, very complicated.
Just seems to me that Microsoft could have designed a much clearer and
easier to use interface between all of this complicated stuff and what the
user wishes to do.
-- I'm getting older, and the learning curve for new operating systems seems
to be getting steeper!

Unfortunately security is a complicated thing. In NT based versions of
Windows there has never been an easy way to say "This folder is safe". You
have to use user accounts combined with NTFS permissions. In previous
versions of Windows everyone ran as an administrator account. This lead to
many poor programming practices. Vista enforces security and breaks many
things that used to work. The reason it breaks them is because the programs
assume the user can do anything. I suspect that all you have to do is set
the NTFS permissions on the C:\Access97 folder but I could be wrong.
Microsoft has also been guilty of poor programming in the past and many
older Microsoft programs have problems with the security in Vista. Access
2000/2002 is an old program. I highly recommend you post these questions in
the Access newsgroup. There are Access experts there who will know if it's
an Access problem or just a permissions problem.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca

Thanks for the response, Kerry.
But, this is Access 2000/2002. You may be right that this is an Access
problem, but it's not an older version of Access. I believe it's simply a
question of telling Vista that it's safe to copy a file from a specific
folder on a mapped drive on the LAN. (In a separate matter, I did run into
a
problem trying to re-install an older version of Access (Access 97) on a
replacement computer that was updated[??] to Vista. Access 97 installed
fine, but SR2 was unable to complete its installation. I'll post that
problem to the Access newsgroup).

I haven't had a chance to read through the links you provided, but isn't
there a simple way to point to a specific folder or location on the
network
and designate this as "safe"? Meanwhile, leaving UAC turned off allows the
database to copy from that mapped drive/folder without any problem.

Thank you.
Mark

NTFS is the basis for file security in all NT based versions of Windows
going back to Windows NT. I know that older versions of Access have some
problems with how UAC affects this in Vista. You may want to repost this
question on the access newsgroup - microsoft.public.access

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


Kerry,
I don't know what NTFS security is, but thanks for the links -- I guess
I'll
have to take the time to learn about it.
The path to the local folder is C:\Access97. ("Access97" is just the name
of
the folder).

Further info:
Vista is on a laptop which occasionally plugs into our LAN.

The laptop has a local copy of the frontend and backend databases.
These
databases are stored in C:\Access97 on the laptop.

Also on the laptop is an icon for the shared network folder. This is a
password protected folder and has been mapped on the laptop as
"p:\sharedfolder\". This shared folder resides on an XP machine.

The user plugs into our LAN for several reasons:
1. To use the internet (no problem)
2. To use the network printer (no problem)
3. To transfer stuff from their database to the network database
located
at
"p:\sharedfolder\database.mdb" (no problem).
-- in order to transfer stuff to the network database, the user first logs
onto "p:\sharedfolder\" by double-clicking their desktop icon and entering
the correct username and password. Once they're logged on, they can
transfer
stuff from their database into the main system.
4. With WinXP, the user could also update their own database by first
logging into "p:\sharedfolder\" as described above, and then clicking a
button in their database which would then copy "database.mdb" from
"p:\sharedfolder\" and replace their older copy on their laptop (this
is
the
part that no longer works).

I guess I need to take the time to read the two links you supplied. (I
think
Microsoft could have made this task a lot easier for the user to find out
what they needed to do -- more obvious buttons, prompts, or options when
you right-click a file or folder, for example).

Thanks again for your help.
Mark

You probably have to set the NTFS security for both folders. What is the
path to the folder on the local computer? Depending where it is you
may
need
to take ownership as well.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/search.aspx?=&qu=ntfs+security http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/31ad4562-aee7-4fed-8316-89114dc973031033.mspx

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


Hi Kerry,
I'm copying to the same folder in which the database resides.

BTW: It's a "split" database. The desktop icon opens the frontend
database,
which then looks for the data in a separate database, which in this
case
happens to be located in this same folder. When I first tried to open
the
database on this new computer, I had to tell Vista to "trust" this
folder
and the files/programs within that folder in order for the frontend
database
to be able to access the data in the backend database. There was an
option
in one of the Vista message boxes to go to the "Trust Center". Once
I
did
that, I could then specify this folder and its contents as
"trusted". I
thought I could find this "Trust Center" and then point to the
shared
network folder, but no luck.

Where on the local computer are you copying to? The location on the
local
computer is more likely to cause the problem.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


Hi,
I have a Microsoft Access database running on a local Vista computer
that
uses code to copy a file from a shared network folder. If I

turn
off

UAC
on
the local computer, the code works fine ... the file is copied from
the
shared network folder to this particular computer. If UAC is left
on,
the
code runs without any alerts or error messages, but the file

has
not

been
copied.

How do I have Vista treat this shared network folder as a "trusted"
site?
Thank you.