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J Caimol · Guest

Trying to open Access Database file:
S:\PROJECTS DATABASE.mdb
Determining Access file type...
Opened file is Access 2000 / 2002(XP) / 2003 Database...
Trying to recover Access Database password...
This file is not password protected...
There is non-standard elements owner in Database:
User '*****' with ID = '*******************' (without quotes)

If the file is not password protected, is there another way to open the file?

Thegrideon_Support

Two types of protection are exist in MS Access - User based and Password based.
You met with user based protection. i.e you do not have "password to open" set in your database, but have list of users which can access this database.
You should recover user account in this database and enter to database using this user account.
Use procedure which is decribed in help file if you have admin account in that database. If not use folowing procedure.
Here is the procedure:

- Run MS Access without any database.
- Go to Accounts setup (usually, it is in Tools | Security | User And Group Accounts), Users tab.
- Create a new user with '***' name (without quotes; just type that name in "Name" drop-down combo box, and press New button). Access will open a new window with two fields -- name ('***' will be already there) and "Personal ID". In the second one, type '***' (also without quotes) and press OK, if this name already exists - delete it first.
- Close Accounts window with OK and exit from Access.
- Run Access from the command line with the '/user' option, i.e.:
MSACCESS.EXE /user
- Now open your (protected) database, and you should see logon screen, enter '***' as name and empty password and press 'OK', and you should have all necessary permissions (as database owner).

J_Caimol

Thank you for your reply. However, I've tried doing per the instructions, and still didn't work. I typed in a new user name and a new password without an open database, which worked fine. By the time I opened msaccess.exe/user and typed in "staff" as the password, it would show a message "not valid name or password".

J_Caimol

And in addition to that, I have been able to open the database using Admin as the user name, however, this one does not give me any administrative permissions, and does not allow me to make changes to my file/records. I think I locked out myself when I was trying to add more users and I was putting security permissions on each user. When I logged back in, there were no permissions allowed anymore except 'read', which I would want my other users to have.

Thanks again for the help.

Thegrideon_Support

Sorry, for a small misprint...
Login as "***" with empty password.

J_Caimol

I had re-created the original owner name of the database and still does not have ADMINISTER PERMISSIONS when I entered the database. If I just put in "***" Access does not take it as a valid username. None of the current listed users have Administer permission.

J_Caimol

I tried to go to the Security Wizard to add ADMINISTER PERMISSIONS to the 'ownername'. After doing so, the following message appeared:

"Error 'An unexpected error occured while changing the owner of the database. This problem can occur if you have (1) previously created the database while logged on as one user, (2) secured it previously using the Security Wizard in any version of Access, and then (3) logged on as a different user to run the Security Wizard this time. The wizard can't complete successfully."

J_Caimol

The problem seems to be taken care of now, right after I had restarted my PC. Thanks a lot for your help. I will keep the software (Access Password) anyway and hopefully I will be able to use it in the future.

riley

Moved to "Managing MDE databases ?"
http://www.thegrideon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3