Locked myself out as administrator

microsoft.public.access.security

6 Aug 2005 10:00 AM

Mike G

I use Access 2002 at a Hospital here in Houston. I set up a database using
access 2 years ago. I am not necessarily a "computer" person, however because
of limited funds I was delegated the job. I recently went into access and
deleted a group of students from a workgroup and added some new students. I'm
not exactly what i did, however I had done it before and I managed to remain
the sytem admin and add the students names and passwords without a problem.
After Access generated the new security file i could not do anything with the
data base.....i could log on and access the tables and forms, queries etc,
however it would not allow me to edit anything. I assumed I had done
something wrong, and attempted to go back into security and run it again but
i get a "you do not have permission.." message. Apparently the Data base is
not recoginzing me as the Administrator anymore. This has been incredibly
frustrating .....I set up the security function in order to keep students
from going into the Data base and wreaking havoc....however I have now
"secured" myself out of a Data base with a huge amount of information I have
accumulated and from which i was responsible for issuing monthly reports. I
would greatly appreaciate any help someon could offer either directly or
pointing me in the right direction.....Like i said I am not a computer "geek"
just a guy that wanted to use the tools available in MS office to make my
work life easier. Thanks...

Mike G

6 Aug 2005 2:51 PM

Joan Wild

Mike G wrote:

> I use Access 2002 at a Hospital here in Houston. I set up a database
> using access 2 years ago. I am not necessarily a "computer" person,
> however because of limited funds I was delegated the job. I recently
> went into access and deleted a group of students from a workgroup and
> added some new students.

When you 'went into access' did you log in as the 'administrator'?

> I'm not exactly what i did, however I had
> done it before and I managed to remain the sytem admin and add the
> students names and passwords without a problem. After Access
> generated the new security file

Why did you generate a new security file? You should have just been
modifying the workgroup file that existed already.

To add/remove users, did you go through the security wizard? Did you just
use the menus (Tools, Security, Accounts)? What exactly did you do?

> i could not do anything with the data
> base.....i could log on and access the tables and forms, queries etc,
> however it would not allow me to edit anything.

Logon as who? The administrator, one of the new student users?

> I assumed I had done
> something wrong, and attempted to go back into security and run it
> again but i get a "you do not have permission.." message.

What do you mean by 'run it again'. You should not be repeatedly running
the security wizard if that is what you mean.

> I would greatly
> appreaciate any help someon could offer either directly or pointing
> me in the right direction

You should be OK. Do a search on your computer - Start, Search for Files
and search for *.mdw
Post back with what you find.

--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP

7 Aug 2005 7:22 PM

Mike G

"Joan Wild" wrote:

> Mike G wrote:
> > I use Access 2002 at a Hospital here in Houston. I set up a database
> > using access 2 years ago. I am not necessarily a "computer" person,
> > however because of limited funds I was delegated the job. I recently
> > went into access and deleted a group of students from a workgroup and
> > added some new students.
>
> When you 'went into access' did you log in as the 'administrator'?

Joan, When I set up the Database 2 and one half years ago I set it up
with me as administrator, and also as a user. I've always logged on with my
name and password as a user, which also allowed me to function as the
administrator since I had granted myself those rights. Unfortunately I do not
remember if I had a password as an administrator. I know bad move. Hindsight
is 20/20.

>
> > I'm not exactly sure what i did, however I had
> > done it before and I managed to remain the sytem admin and add the
> > students names and passwords without a problem. After Access
> > generated the new security file
>
> Why did you generate a new security file? You should have just been
> modifying the workgroup file that existed already.

I had some problems in the past with modifying the workgroup and the
Microsoft book "Access step by step" recommends using the security wizard.

> To add/remove users, did you go through the security wizard? Did you just
> use the menus (Tools, Security, Accounts)? What exactly did you do?

Well I originally used the Tools, security, to delete the old students and
then I went through the security Wizard to add the new students. The weird
thing is, the new students passwords don't work, but if they click on "ok"
when it tells them they are not a valid account, it opens the data base
anyway.(??)

>
> > i could not do anything with the data
> > base.....i could log on and access the tables and forms, queries etc,
> > however it would not allow me to edit anything.
>
> Logon as who? The administrator, one of the new student users?
>

Logon on a myself, since I am one of the users also.

> > I assumed I had done
> > something wrong, and attempted to go back into security and run it
> > again but i get a "you do not have permission.." message.
>
> What do you mean by 'run it again'. You should not be repeatedly running
> the security wizard if that is what you mean.

Yes thats what I meant, I ran the security wizard again. Well I
figured since its the Wizard, it could figure out what was wrong

> > I would greatly
> > appreaciate any help someon could offer either directly or pointing
> > me in the right direction
>
> You should be OK. Do a search on your computer - Start, Search for Files
> and search for *.mdw
> Post back with what you find.

     Joan I have the following MDW files on the computer, I've included the
size and date modified
   System1.mdw 104KB   1/13/2004
   System2.mdw 104KB   8/14/2005
   Secured.mdw   172KB   7/24/2003
   Secured.mdw   412KB   8/5/2005
   Secured1.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
   Secured2.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
   Secured3.mdw 112KB 8/4/2005
   tcdb.mdb.mdw 104KB 8/5/2005
   tcdbperf.mdb.mdw 104 KB 8/5/2005

I think some of these must have been generated when I made my futile
attempts to fix the problem. I had read on a web page after searching for
solutions, that the way to work around my problem was to create another data
base and just copy or export the "old" data base to the new data base. Which
struck me as odd since if its that easy to get around the security, why even
have it?..Needless to say it didn't work..

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely
Mike

Show quoteHide quote

>>
>
>
>

7 Aug 2005 9:04 PM

Joan Wild

Mike G wrote:

>
> Well I originally used the Tools, security, to delete the old
> students and then I went through the security Wizard to add the new
> students.

Well you should have just used the Tools, security, Accounts to create the
new ones as well.

> Yes thats what I meant, I ran the security wizard again. Well
> I figured since its the Wizard, it could figure out what was wrong

A wizard just does a series of steps for you; you give it far too much
credit.

Show quoteHide quote

>     Joan I have the following MDW files on the computer, I've
> included the size and date modified
>   System1.mdw 104KB   1/13/2004
>   System2.mdw 104KB   8/14/2005
>   Secured.mdw   172KB   7/24/2003
>   Secured.mdw   412KB   8/5/2005
>   Secured1.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
>   Secured2.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
>   Secured3.mdw 112KB 8/4/2005
>   tcdb.mdb.mdw 104KB 8/5/2005
>   tcdbperf.mdb.mdw 104 KB 8/5/2005
>
> I think some of these must have been generated when I made my futile
> attempts to fix the problem.

I agree. Everytime you ran the security wizard, it created a new workgroup
file, which is what you don't want. Do not run it again.

It would have been helpful to also see the full paths to these files. What
I would do is create nine desktop shortcuts.

Put the following in the target of each:
"path to msaccess.exe" "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to mdw"
Substitute the correct paths in the above, and for each shortcut change the
path to mdw to one of the ones listed above.

Then open each one, logging in as you (as user) until you find the one that
lets you edit your database and add/remove users (gives you full
administrative abilities).
Once you've found it, I would copy the other eight mdw files to CD/floppy,
and then delete them from your computer.

Do not run the security wizard again. Just use the Tools, Security,
Accounts menu to add and delete users.

--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP

8 Aug 2005 2:02 PM

Mike G

Show quote Hide quote

"Joan Wild" wrote:

>
> Mike G wrote:
> >
> > Well I originally used the Tools, security, to delete the old
> > students and then I went through the security Wizard to add the new
> > students.
>
> Well you should have just used the Tools, security, Accounts to create the
> new ones as well.
>
> >         Yes thats what I meant, I ran the security wizard again. Well
> > I figured since its the Wizard, it could figure out what was wrong
>
> A wizard just does a series of steps for you; you give it far too much
> credit.
>
>
> >     Joan I have the following MDW files on the computer, I've
> > included the size and date modified
> >   System1.mdw 104KB   1/13/2004
> >   System2.mdw 104KB   8/14/2005
> >   Secured.mdw   172KB   7/24/2003
> >   Secured.mdw   412KB   8/5/2005
> >   Secured1.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
> >   Secured2.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
> >   Secured3.mdw 112KB 8/4/2005
> >   tcdb.mdb.mdw 104KB 8/5/2005
> >   tcdbperf.mdb.mdw 104 KB 8/5/2005
> >
> > I think some of these must have been generated when I made my futile
> > attempts to fix the problem.
>
> I agree. Everytime you ran the security wizard, it created a new workgroup
> file, which is what you don't want. Do not run it again.
>
> It would have been helpful to also see the full paths to these files. What
> I would do is create nine desktop shortcuts.

Joan , the full path to the files is
C:\Documents and Settings\mgallagher\application data\Microsoft\Access

> Put the following in the target of each:

Sorry joan, forgive me...what do you mean by "target"?

> "path to msaccess.exe" "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to mdw"
> Substitute the correct paths in the above, and for each shortcut change the
> path to mdw to one of the ones listed above.

I'm not really sure what you mean by the above....do I just enter the
mdw location at the end of path I just showed you above?

Show quoteHide quote

> Then open each one, logging in as you (as user) until you find the one that
> lets you edit your database and add/remove users (gives you full
> administrative abilities).
> Once you've found it, I would copy the other eight mdw files to CD/floppy,
> and then delete them from your computer.
>
> Do not run the security wizard again. Just use the Tools, Security,
> Accounts menu to add and delete users.
>
>
> --
> Joan Wild
> Microsoft Access MVP
>
>
>

8 Aug 2005 2:27 PM

Joan Wild

No Mike, create a desktop shortcut.

Right-click on your desktop and choose New, Shortcut.

In the dialog, click on browse and browse to the location of msaccess.exe
(C:Program Files\Microsoft Office\Officexx\msaccess.exe) (xx may be 10, 11
or nothing depending on version)
Then click Finish.

Now right-click the shortcut that was created and click on Properties.
You'll be on the Shortcut tab and the Target textbox will be selected.
You'll see the "path to msaccess.exe" is already there. Click at the end of
that and add "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to mdw" (substituting
the correct paths to your files).

Once you have this one done, copy and paste it eight times on your desktop.
Then edit each one (as above) and change the name of the mdw to reflect each
of the mdw files you found.

--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP

Mike G wrote:

Show quoteHide quote

> "Joan Wild" wrote:
>
>>
>> Mike G wrote:
>>>
>>> Well I originally used the Tools, security, to delete the old
>>> students and then I went through the security Wizard to add the new
>>> students.
>>
>> Well you should have just used the Tools, security, Accounts to
>> create the new ones as well.
>>
>>>         Yes thats what I meant, I ran the security wizard again.
>>> Well I figured since its the Wizard, it could figure out what was
>>> wrong
>>
>> A wizard just does a series of steps for you; you give it far too
>> much credit.
>>
>>
>>>     Joan I have the following MDW files on the computer, I've
>>> included the size and date modified
>>>   System1.mdw 104KB   1/13/2004
>>>   System2.mdw 104KB   8/14/2005
>>>   Secured.mdw   172KB   7/24/2003
>>>   Secured.mdw   412KB   8/5/2005
>>>   Secured1.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
>>>   Secured2.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
>>>   Secured3.mdw 112KB 8/4/2005
>>>   tcdb.mdb.mdw 104KB 8/5/2005
>>>   tcdbperf.mdb.mdw 104 KB 8/5/2005
>>>
>>> I think some of these must have been generated when I made my futile
>>> attempts to fix the problem.
>>
>> I agree. Everytime you ran the security wizard, it created a new
>> workgroup file, which is what you don't want. Do not run it again.
>>
>> It would have been helpful to also see the full paths to these
>> files. What I would do is create nine desktop shortcuts.
>
>      Joan , the full path to the files is
>      C:\Documents and Settings\mgallagher\application
> data\Microsoft\Access
>
>
>> Put the following in the target of each:
>     Sorry joan, forgive me...what do you mean by "target"?
>
>> "path to msaccess.exe" "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to
>> mdw" Substitute the correct paths in the above, and for each
>> shortcut change the path to mdw to one of the ones listed above.
>
>    I'm not really sure what you mean by the above....do I just enter
> the mdw   location at the end of path I just showed you above?
>
>> Then open each one, logging in as you (as user) until you find the
>> one that lets you edit your database and add/remove users (gives you
>> full administrative abilities).
>> Once you've found it, I would copy the other eight mdw files to
>> CD/floppy, and then delete them from your computer.
>>
>> Do not run the security wizard again. Just use the Tools, Security,
>> Accounts menu to add and delete users.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Joan Wild
>> Microsoft Access MVP

8 Aug 2005 9:05 PM

Mike G

Show quote Hide quote

"Joan Wild" wrote:

> No Mike, create a desktop shortcut.
>
> Right-click on your desktop and choose New, Shortcut.
>
> In the dialog, click on browse and browse to the location of msaccess.exe
> (C:Program Files\Microsoft Office\Officexx\msaccess.exe) (xx may be 10, 11
> or nothing depending on version)
> Then click Finish.
>
> Now right-click the shortcut that was created and click on Properties.
> You'll be on the Shortcut tab and the Target textbox will be selected.
> You'll see the "path to msaccess.exe" is already there. Click at the end of
> that and add "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to mdw" (substituting
> the correct paths to your files).
>
> Once you have this one done, copy and paste it eight times on your desktop.
> Then edit each one (as above) and change the name of the mdw to reflect each
> of the mdw files you found.
>
>
> --
> Joan Wild
> Microsoft Access MVP
>
> Mike G wrote:
> > "Joan Wild" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Mike G wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Well I originally used the Tools, security, to delete the old
> >>> students and then I went through the security Wizard to add the new
> >>> students.
> >>
> >> Well you should have just used the Tools, security, Accounts to
> >> create the new ones as well.
> >>
> >>>         Yes thats what I meant, I ran the security wizard again.
> >>> Well I figured since its the Wizard, it could figure out what was
> >>> wrong
> >>
> >> A wizard just does a series of steps for you; you give it far too
> >> much credit.
> >>
> >>
> >>>     Joan I have the following MDW files on the computer, I've
> >>> included the size and date modified
> >>>   System1.mdw 104KB   1/13/2004
> >>>   System2.mdw 104KB   8/14/2005
> >>>   Secured.mdw   172KB   7/24/2003
> >>>   Secured.mdw   412KB   8/5/2005
> >>>   Secured1.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
> >>>   Secured2.mdw 112KB 8/3/2005
> >>>   Secured3.mdw 112KB 8/4/2005
> >>>   tcdb.mdb.mdw 104KB 8/5/2005
> >>>   tcdbperf.mdb.mdw 104 KB 8/5/2005
> >>>
> >>> I think some of these must have been generated when I made my futile
> >>> attempts to fix the problem.
> >>
> >> I agree. Everytime you ran the security wizard, it created a new
> >> workgroup file, which is what you don't want. Do not run it again.
> >>
> >> It would have been helpful to also see the full paths to these
> >> files. What I would do is create nine desktop shortcuts.
> >
> >      Joan , the full path to the files is
> >      C:\Documents and Settings\mgallagher\application
> > data\Microsoft\Access
> >
> >
> >> Put the following in the target of each:
> >     Sorry joan, forgive me...what do you mean by "target"?
> >
> >> "path to msaccess.exe" "path to your secure mdb" /wrkgrp "path to
> >> mdw" Substitute the correct paths in the above, and for each
> >> shortcut change the path to mdw to one of the ones listed above.
> >
> >    I'm not really sure what you mean by the above....do I just enter
> > the mdw   location at the end of path I just showed you above?
> >
> >> Then open each one, logging in as you (as user) until you find the
> >> one that lets you edit your database and add/remove users (gives you
> >> full administrative abilities).
> >> Once you've found it, I would copy the other eight mdw files to
> >> CD/floppy, and then delete them from your computer.
> >>
> >> Do not run the security wizard again. Just use the Tools, Security,
> >> Accounts menu to add and delete users.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Joan Wild
> >> Microsoft Access MVP

Joan,
I tried your recommendations and several of the mdw files open the database
after I log on as a user, however none of them give me full administrative
priviliges. This is despite the fact that when I look under "administrator"
it has my name and shows me as getting full privileges. I've tried entering
"administrator" in the log on box and tried several of the passwords I
normally use and no luck....I'm at wits end. Thanks Mike

Show quoteHide quote

>
>

8 Aug 2005 9:13 PM

Joan Wild

>
> Joan,
> I tried your recommendations and several of the mdw files open the
> database after I log on as a user, however none of them give me full
> administrative priviliges. This is despite the fact that when I look
> under "administrator" it has my name and shows me as getting full
> privileges. I've tried entering "administrator" in the log on box and
> tried several of the passwords I normally use and no luck....I'm at
> wits end. Thanks Mike

Well at least you can get in. Since you can see the permissions for
'administrator', that suggests that you do have administrative permissions.
Are you able to add you (as user) to the Admins Group?

Also which mdw files give you access?

Try this. Log in as you (as user); create a new mdb and see if you can
import all objects from your mdb. If you can then you (as user) will now
own all objects, however security will be removed from the mdb. If you can
get this far post back.

--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP

8 Aug 2005 11:30 PM

Mike G

Show quote Hide quote

"Joan Wild" wrote:

> >
> > Joan,
> > I tried your recommendations and several of the mdw files open the
> > database after I log on as a user, however none of them give me full
> > administrative priviliges. This is despite the fact that when I look
> > under "administrator" it has my name and shows me as getting full
> > privileges. I've tried entering "administrator" in the log on box and
> > tried several of the passwords I normally use and no luck....I'm at
> > wits end. Thanks Mike
>
> Well at least you can get in. Since you can see the permissions for
> 'administrator', that suggests that you do have administrative permissions.
> Are you able to add you (as user) to the Admins Group?
>
> Also which mdw files give you access?
>
> Try this. Log in as you (as user); create a new mdb and see if you can
> import all objects from your mdb. If you can then you (as user) will now
> own all objects, however security will be removed from the mdb. If you can
> get this far post back.
>
> --
> Joan Wild
> Microsoft Access MVP
>

Yes Joan I can get in but I can only enter data in the forms. I am unable
to run queries or generate reports. Thats because the only privileges I
extended the group was data entry.

I had tried earlier to create a new data base and import the data from the
"old" database without luck. I will try again tommorrow and also let you
know the names of the files that do allow me entry. Thanks.
Mike
Show quoteHide quote

9 Aug 2005 2:41 PM

Joan Wild

Try logging in as 'administrator' and leave the password blank.

--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP

Mike G wrote:

Show quoteHide quote

> "Joan Wild" wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Joan,
>>> I tried your recommendations and several of the mdw files open the
>>> database after I log on as a user, however none of them give me full
>>> administrative priviliges. This is despite the fact that when I look
>>> under "administrator" it has my name and shows me as getting full
>>> privileges. I've tried entering "administrator" in the log on box
>>> and tried several of the passwords I normally use and no
>>> luck....I'm at wits end. Thanks Mike
>>
>> Well at least you can get in. Since you can see the permissions for
>> 'administrator', that suggests that you do have administrative
>> permissions. Are you able to add you (as user) to the Admins Group?
>>
>> Also which mdw files give you access?
>>
>> Try this. Log in as you (as user); create a new mdb and see if you
>> can import all objects from your mdb. If you can then you (as user)
>> will now own all objects, however security will be removed from the
>> mdb. If you can get this far post back.
>>
>> --
>> Joan Wild
>> Microsoft Access MVP
>>
> Yes Joan I can get in but I can only enter data in the forms. I am
> unable to run queries or generate reports. Thats because the only
> privileges I extended the group was data entry.
>
> I had tried earlier to create a new data base and import the data
> from the "old" database without luck. I will try again tommorrow and
> also let you know the names of the files that do allow me entry.
> Thanks.
> Mike

7 Aug 2005 8:10 AM

Be aware that access security is (unfortunately) crackable using
products that your students have probably got their hands on. This is
not the cause of your problems, but, it may give you pause to consider
what is the value of the data that you are protecting.

HTH,
TC