Access 97 logon in shared area

[guy_bickerton]

I am using Microsoft access 97 and attempting to add user groups to the database. This works fine on my computer but when I copy the database to our shared area and other users open it the logon procedures do not appear. Instead they are allowed immediate access even though on my computer usernames and passwords must be entered. Please help

 

[The_Doc_Man]

This is a workgroup security issue. Search this forum for topics containing the word Workgroup or the phrase Workgroup Security. Even in the last year, we have had two or three detailed posts related to this concept.

In brief, your problem is that your users hitting the shared database aren't using a workgroup login so they come in as user ADMIN - which makes them that much closer to GOD (for the duration of their sessions, at least).

If you search recent posts under my name, I explained this to someone in a series of threads less than two months ago. Pat Harman and Mile-O-Phile have also answered such questions.

 

[guy_bickerton]

mdw file

Firstly let me thankyou for your quick response. I have now realised that it was the lack of the mdw file that was preventing me from having log on's on seperate computers. BUT:
I want to be able to put this on a shared area so our users globally can have log on facilities. The problem is though that I cannot go around every computer changing the mdw file in each individual computer's system 32 folder as this is inpractical. Is there another way I can use, so the log on details are looked up by the database from an area on the shared drive. This will enable me to place the mdw file in one area and it will be used by everyone accessing it on the LAN.
Many thanks for your support

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Is there another way I can use, so the log on details are looked up by the database from an area on the shared drive. This will enable me to place the mdw file in one area and it will be used by everyone accessing it on the LAN.

Actually, you don't have a choice. You MUST place the .mdw file in the same directory as the .mdb to which it applies unless you have a shortcut that explicity names a different path for the .mdw file with the appropriate switch-type option. But it MUST be on the shared drive to be shared. The problem doesn't go away, though, 'cause the users have to join the workgroup for the shortcut to work, and you cannot prevent them from bypassing the shortcut.

The problem is though that I cannot go around every computer changing the mdw file in each individual computer's system 32 folder as this is inpractical.

You don't have to change their .mdw file - in fact, you should not. You want to share the .mdw and get everyone to join it. The only effective way to secure your DB requires you to gut the Admin account and Users group so that neither has any rights to anything. I posted a long discussion about this but don't recall at the moment to whom. Don't try this ("don't try this at home, kids...") without finding the writeup first. If you do things in the wrong order, your DB is hosed forever.

Search for posts with my name from the last couple of weeks. One of them describes in detail how to disable the Admin account so that your users will be FORCED to join the workgroup if they need to see anything. This is what you want. Make THEM come to YOU.

Practical or impractical, there IS NO OTHER WAY to share a DB safely than that ALL USERS MUST JOIN THE WORKGROUP. This is the whole point of security. If you have someone who doesn't want to pay the price of admission, they cannot be allowed to see the show. Pay to play or go away. No middle ground, no exceptions, no foolin'!

Having said that, ...

Welcome to the world of user administration, where you quickly discover that USER is, indeed, a four-letter word, to be spoken in the same way as any other four-letter word used vehemently.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'll leave it to you to do the search, but the originator was kabir hussein and the title was database security.

 

[guy_bickerton]

movement of logon info?

Thanks for the tips, I now understand how to implement the security feature. However:
Currently we have a database in a shared area but when creating log on details(stored in file mdw) these are stored in the C: drive off the specific computer being used. When I open the database in my area the security works but when I can move to another computer in the LAN the secutiry does not exist. Obviously this is because the database is gathering the logon info from a path registered on the individual computer and not on the shared area. Is it possible to change the path so that the database looks in the shared area to gather it's logon info?
This is important as we have many people needing read-only access to the database. I was planning to have one user ID and password for all these people as administrating the user ID and passwords globally would be close to impossible. My aim would thereofere be to have:
One group with a few members with write access
One group with only one member with read-only access and all of the users loggin in under the same user ID.
I believe this can be implemented if I can ensure the log-on details (mdw file) are used when accessing the databse in the LAN