security issue (1 Viewer)

[NickNeville]

Can anyone please help.
I protected a database and wanted to install it on anther pc. This did not work and I could not open it. The new pc also then asked me for passwords for another database which is unprotected. I have even tried re insatalling access 2003 and still I cannot transfer even another un secured database without it asking for passwords now.
Is there a file which I have to delete before reinstalling access ?
or is there a way to unprotect the original database ?

Desparate and no hair left.

Nick

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Probably SYSTEM.MDW is your culprit.

What happens is that sometimes, depending on how you set up the way people open your database, Access Security updates your registry to remember your last workgroup file. So when you installed that database, something you did might well have written a new MDW file and overwrote the old one. The new one, of course, still has passwords in it from when you protected it.

To get beyond this point, two comments:

First, delete the SYSTEM.MDW file from the machine that wants inappropriate passwords. Use Workgroup Administrator tool to create a new, virgin SYSTEM.MDW

Second, securing a database is more than just changing SYSTEM.MDW, it involves several precautings. Search this forum for many articles that have appeared on the topic of "securing a database" and "workgroup security" and similar topics.

 

[NickNeville]

yippee that fixed it, thankyou so much. It was driving me nuts, in the end all I did was delete the sys.mdw files in Access without actually opening a database, and when I did it worked fine. But fortunately I had kept a copy of the unsecured d/base.
many many thanks
best rgds
nick