Connecting to Access 2000

[Dexx]

I'm trying to connect to an Access 2000 database using the following connection string:

strConnection = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _
"Data Source=C:\Databases\Northwind.mdb;"

but I keep having the following error message:

Microsoft JET Database Engine (0x80004005)
The Microsoft Jet database engine cannot open the file 'C:\Northwind.mdb'. It is already opened exclusively by another user, or you need permission to view its data.

I closed the database but the error message never seems to go away. Frustrating! I have tried other connections including DSN connections and the standard connection string below:

strConnection.Open "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=C:\Databases\Northwind.mdb"

but none seems to work

Has anyone any suggestions? Has anybody encountered a similar error message before?

Thanks

Lee
Arlington, VA