How to prevent tampering

[jereece]

I am doing more and more Access projects at work. I am using Access 2003. Is there a way I can prevent people from tampering with what I give them? I always create an autoexec macro and run "Windows Hide", then open the main form. Someone can easily unhide the window or hold down the shift key while opening the file, then tamper with what I have put together. Is there an simple and easy way I can prevent tampering?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[pbaldy]

The simplest thing is to distribute an MDE instead of an MDB. That keeps them from changing forms, reports or code (they can't even view code).

 

[jereece]

The simplest thing is to distribute an MDE instead of an MDB. That keeps them from changing forms, reports or code (they can't even view code).

How do I create and MDE from my MDB?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[pbaldy]

The first step would be to type "mde" into the search box in Access Help and click "Search". You should find the topics pretty comprehensive. Feel free to post back with any questions.

 

[jereece]

I was able to convert my MDB to an MDE. While it does prevent editing Forms and Reports, it appears that Tables, Queries and Macros can still be modified.

What I really want is a way to prevent viewing Tables, Queries, etc. so nothing could be viewed or edited. It looks like Tools>Startup and disabling everything does exactly what I want, but that does not prevent starting up with the shift key held down. I may have to settle for this anyway.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

I appreciate the help.
Jim

 

[pbaldy]

I mentioned that it would only prevent changing forms, reports and code. You could investigate Access Security, and see if it gets you what you want. You can also disable the shift key startup thing on top of the other things you mentioned in Tools/Startup, but frankly all those things are fairly easy to get around for a knowledgeable user.