MS Access Issue, locked out!

[Rainsford]

I have a user who managed to lock himself out of Access. I don't know what he did, and he doesn't remember (of course). What happens is when Access is started it's just a blank screen (like usual). When you try and do anything, open a database, create a new database etc (on our server or the local machine) a prompt comes up asking for a username and password (pic here). We've tried every password and username combination we can think of, and nothing works. We've re-installed office on his machine, same problem. Everyone using the machine has the problem, domain users, local users, everyone. All his other office programs work just fine. The only thing he can tell me is that he was screwing around in Tools/Security/User and Group Accounts because he was trying to change the password on a password protected Access database file. He clicked "Clear Password" and since then he has had this problem. I'm pulling my hair out here, plus I'm not too up on Access, any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Time to format the hard drive...too bad you can't deduct the wasted time from the bonehead user's paycheck.

 

[Mavrick007]

Can you just uninstall the whole office package, take out the registry entries and then do a reinstall from scratch?
You don't need to reformat, just save the Access files and go from there.

Check in the registry for the workgroup preference info, this will give info to the users of the workgroup. If the same thing happens when you reinstall Access, then it's because the registry hasn't changed back to default(like on an initial install). The Admins group is the default setting that gives you administration access to the db, and it must be logged on in order to change settings and permissions. If he changed the password to that, then it can not be accessed and everything will have to be done again from scratch.

 

[UThomas]

Yep, he cleared the default password for the Adminstrator, which is the default user on an access database. You don't normally have to deal with this since it is default.

Have him try opening a database by holding down shift and then double clicking on the MDB file. Once he is in go to TOOLS -> SECURITY -> USER AND GROUP ACCOUNTS -> and then go to the third tab which is CHANGE LOGON PASSWORD.

That might help. But clearing the registry setting he messed up and reinstalling would probably be a smart bet as well. You could also do a search for *.mdw type files (workgroup files) and rename the one you find and replace it with one from another users computer.

Thomas

 

[Rainsford]

Alright, thanks for the help. I'll give those ideas a try!