UNABLE TO OPEN FILES !!!! 1

[petersok]

The<br>
computers ran either WIN NT of WIN 95. Amongst the files there are about 170<br>
MDB (MS ACCESS DATA BASE) files. These files range from 800k to 100 meg.<br>
Some of the files I can open in ACCESS others I can open in EXCEL using the<br>
EXTERNAL DATA command. However on most files I get the error message &quot;you<br>
don't have the necessary permissions to use the (name of file).mdb file&quot;<br>
<br>
I get similar messages in EXCEL and in ACCESS. I have three versions of<br>
EXCEL ( Office 97, 2000 and Office Professional and two of ACCESS (2.0 and<br>
OFFICE 97) I already tried each. I also have two good password crackers the<br>
ACCESS DATA and LOSTPASSWORD both of which use crypto analysis Vs brute<br>
force and both show no passwording of the files.<br>
I also tried to create a file with permissions and one without using the<br>
DISKEDIT compare to try and find the line to cut out to remove the<br>
permissions but as of now no luck. This is not an NT problem as the<br>
permissions are set in the ACCESS data base under the<br>
&quot;tools - security - user & group permissions&quot; window.<br>
What I have done so far:<br>
<br>
* Tried opening in various versions of EXCEL and Access<br>
* tried opening using WIN 98, WIN 95 and NT<br>
* Gave myself ADMIN rights in Access.<br>
* tried using CONVERSIONS PLUS 4.5<br>
* Ran the password crackers and confirmed no password present.<br>
* looked at the file in Diskeditor and confirmed it is not encrypted.<br>
* Tried opening in IE5<br>
* tried to compare a known MDB file with permissions with same file<br>
W/O permissions (did not find an obvious easy line to change too many<br>
differences)<br>
<br>
So rather than trying to re-invent the wheel further I put this out to the<br>
group... Has anyone come up with a work around for MS/ACCESS permissions ???<br>
<br>

 

[elizabeth]

You didn't specify whether your user id was granted permissions originally or not. If not, you're talking about cracking security and I can't help. But if your user id was originally granted permissions and now you find yourself unable to open the file, the problem may be that the permissions are stored in a .mdw other than the one you're pointed to. Could that have changed? By default Access points to the file on the C: drive but for shared apps the file would be on a server. I've noticed when users upgrade they always end up pointed to the worng security file.

 

[vdm]

I'm having the same problem - but cann't tell if they have passwords - could you tell me what and where to find this password cracker you speak of?

 

[JimHorton]

The password cracker progs that I know of only crack a 'Database' passoword, not the Workgroup file security (the 'real' Jet security).&nbsp;&nbsp;A database password is just a minimal second-level of protection.&nbsp;&nbsp;What you really need are the .mdw files, which contain the workgroup/logon info.&nbsp;&nbsp;Without these, Access 97 security is pretty good, though I've heard that there are some obscure hacking methods, but I think the people who know these probably guard them, and may charge a fee for cracking your db.&nbsp;&nbsp;I'm not sure, but one of those companies has a presence here, I think it's run by ex-Micro-serfs who have knowledge of the extremely proprietary JET mdb structure.&nbsp;&nbsp;I forgot the name, however.<br><br>&nbsp;You said you have some Access 2.0 mdb's, those are easily crackable, there were some big holes left in that version, by either a simple trojan-horse or using the copyobject method..&nbsp;&nbsp;The '97 mdb's, it sounds as if they had security implemented the right way on them and without the mdw files, (and a logon), you may well be out of luck.<br>--Jim