What does a blue padlock mean?

[Guest]

Hi,
I have created a table in Access and put it on a shared drive for others to
use. Now I have a blue padlock on the file I wanted updated and a copy of
the file. Can someone explain what has occurred and how I can fix the
problem?

Thanks very much.

 

[Wayne Morgan]

Access has an icon with a Gold padlock for its lock files (*.ldb). Could it
be that it looks blue due to the highlighting from being selected in
explorer? The lock file is a file that Access creates in the same directory
as the mdb file when the file is opened in shared mode. The ldb file will
have the same name as the mdb file, just a different extension. This is one
reason why the users must have read, write, and change permissions on the
share.

Another possibility for the blue padlock would be if you are running some
third party security software that has locked the file. You'll need to check
with whoever maintains your computers to see about that.

 

[Eric Schittlipz]

Hi,
I have created a table in Access and put it on a shared drive for others
to
use. Now I have a blue padlock on the file I wanted updated and a copy of
the file. Can someone explain what has occurred and how I can fix the
problem?

Thanks very much.

Check the file extension of the database - is it .mdb or .mde? Files with
..mde extensions display a padlock to indicate that forms, code, etc can't be
changed, but if that's the case, someone must have intentionally done this.

 

[Guest]

I have a similar problem. My file locked when I tried to open it by
double-clicking. I read the replies below; it is definitely a blue padlock.
No one lock it on purpose, I tried to open and it began opening then I got a
message saying something like 'Access has encountered a problem and needs to
shut down.' File was then locked, and a duplicated file created, also locked.
How do I get the file open? Help please.

 

[MacDermott]

Check in the Windows Explorer whether the file's read-only property has been
set to true.
Also make sure you (and other users) have full permissions on the network
directory where it is located.

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry; I don't understand.
When I right-click on the icon, the only place I see the words 'read only'
is under attributes: read only, hidden, archive. The 'archive' box is the
only one checked.

With respect to your second suggestion, there is no network, this is a
stand-alone computer.

Thank you for helping.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

A blue padlock on the file normally means that it is
an MDE rather than an MDB. Icons are associated to the
name of the file, so either Windows is giving you the
wrong icon, or the file has a .MDE extension.

Files with a .MDE extension are normally .MDE files
(unless someone has just changed the name), which
means only that you can't design the forms, modules,
and reports.

(david)

 

[Guest]

Okay, I understand what you're saying about the extension, but not how to fix
it.

These files used to open normally, and I could add information, but now
they're locked. Is there something I can do to a) open them b) prevent their
automatically locking in the future?

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

Do you have Windows Explorer showing the file extensions?
If so, what is the file extension?

If it is not .MDE, then you have a problem with Windows
or your Office installation. To avoid that problem, you
need to fix Windows and Office.

If the extension is .MDE, then a person has made a
..MDE file out of your .MDB file. If there is no .MDB
file, it has been deleted. You need to find an original
copy of the .MDB file (perhaps in your trash can).
You need to be aware of the differences between an MDB
file and an MDE file, so that it doesn't happen again.

(david)

 

[Joan Wild]

Just another thought. The blue padlock also shows up on the ldb file.
Perhaps you are trying to open it? You need to View Details in Windows
Explorer to ensure you are looking at an Access file, rather than the Record
Locking file.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

Just another thought. The blue padlock also shows up on the ldb file.

I think that is more likely. It makes more sense of
the original post than what I was suggesting.

(david)

 

[Al_Con]

Re. Blue Padlock problem.
I get this occassionally - it seems to occur if I quit accidentally or too quickly.
The only way that I am able to get back into the database is to reset my computer (yes"switch it off and switch it back on again").
On reboot, the blue padlock file has disappeared and I am able to open the database again.