Exclusive access/DB lock

[Boru]

Here is the situation I'm in now:
OS: Win XP
We have 4 work stations 3 of them has Office 2000 installed, and one machine had Office XP installed(user1).

The error we are getting is "You do not have exclusive access to the database at this time. If you proceed to make changes, you may not be able to save them later."

If the database is open by USER1 - everyone is getting the error above.
If the database i NOT open by USER1 - noone gets the error(user2-4 are using it wihout the error)

I thought the the error will be caused by different access versions, so I uninstalled Office XP from User1 and installed Office 2000 and now what happens is:



if user1 opens access first - others get the error "The database has been placed in a state by user “Admin” on machine" - this error poped up after i reinstalled the office.

If user2 opens access first - then user1 opens - we get the "exclusive access error" but we dont get the "state by user "admin" error.

I did a search online and found the KB for access - but it did not help.

Also, uninstalled Adobe 7.

Then we tried configuring it using workgroups - did not help.

Looks like its the issue with the machine itself - any ideas?

I was trying to fix it and looks like it just got worse..

Help would be appreciated.

 

[evanscamman]

I'm guessing that your database is not split.

 

[Boru]

no we did not split it yet.

 

[evanscamman]

There you go - split it and you will be fine.

 

[Boru]

Therefore, when i reinstalled MS officer (my first steps) we used to get the excluse error once (you clikc OK once and it goes away, untill you try to access to database again) - now we have to "OK it" 8 times.

I think that it's something with the machines software.. any ideas?


P.S I did plsit the database - but i still receive the same exclusive error.

any ideas?

 

[boblarson]

When you split the database EACH USER needs to have a copy of the frontend on THEIR machine which they use. Do NOT use the same file for everyone.

 

[Boru]

oh - so copy my FE to all users machine? because i just opened the same FE from networked drive.

 

[boblarson]

Yep, opening the same file will cause problems but opening the file with two different versions is even more so.

FE/BE should have the BE on the server and the FE as a copy on each user's machine. You can use a tool (like in my signature) to do auto updating on the frontends to keep them up to date without too much hassle.

 

[Boru]

Thanks Bob! will try that

 

[Boru]

So i split the database - looks like everything is fine - no more errors.
However, it runs a little bit slower than it was before - any ideas why?

Also, do I need to clean something up after splitting? For example my FE file as big as the whole database(before split). Do I need to delete something from FE?

Is it ok to make a one folder for example \\server\accessdb\ and put all FE files in there? eg: user1_db.mdb, user2_db.mdb and have users to open these files from network drive? instead of moving files to their local machine?

Also, do I need to check something to make sure the split was successful or do I need to know something after I split it?(i have no experience with access, sorry).

What I did I modified the field value from 2 machines and I was able to see the changes on both of them. Do I need to do anything else?

Thank you!

 

[boblarson]

So i split the database - looks like everything is fine - no more errors.
However, it runs a little bit slower than it was before - any ideas why?

I don't remember if this will shed light on it (I can't view it currently as it is blocked at work for some unknown reason).

Also, do I need to clean something up after splitting? For example my FE file as big as the whole database(before split). Do I need to delete something from FE?

You deleted the tables and relinked correct? Or did you use the Split tool? You might want to run COMPACT AND REPAIR.

Is it ok to make a one folder for example \\server\accessdb\ and put all FE files in there? eg: user1_db.mdb, user2_db.mdb and have users to open these files from network drive? instead of moving files to their local machine?

I would not do that. Running the frontend over the network is a big corruption trap. Put them on the users' machine. If you use an auto updater then you can distribute to them ONCE and then from then on you just make changes to your master file and then change the version number in it (if using my free tool) and then the next time they open the frontend on their machine it will tell them that it is out of date, will close automatically, delete the old file, copy the new file down from the master location on the server, and then automatically reopen for them.

Also, do I need to check something to make sure the split was successful or do I need to know something after I split it?(i have no experience with access, sorry).

What I did I modified the field value from 2 machines and I was able to see the changes on both of them. Do I need to do anything else?

Sounds like you got it okay.

 

[Boru]

Thank you very much for your time and help!

You deleted the tables and relinked correct? Or did you use the Split tool? You might want to run COMPACT AND REPAIR.

-No I did not. Will the compact and repair delete the unnecessary tables?