How to use .mdw file in Access 2010

Question

In Access 2010, how do you open a database (created in Access 2003) that requires the use of a .mdw file? In Access 2003, you need to first access the .mdw file. I cannot find out how you will do this in Access 2010.

Can someone tell me how to open a .mdb file in Access 2010?

Answer 1

To open an Access database with user-level protection enabled and not use the default Workgroup ( .mdw ) file, you need to start Access with the command line arguments that define the database to open and the Workgroup file ( .mdw ) that will be used. This is usually done using a Windows shortcut whose Target: is something like ...

 "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\__tmp\zzzzz.mdb" /WRKGRP "C:\__tmp\Security.mdw" 

... although the same thing can be done from a batch file or similar launcher application.

Answer 2

Instead of using the command line to access your .mdb using the workgroup source file, I actually go to the folder where the new workgroup file is located and replace it with my own. The path to the new workgroup file is C:\users\user\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Access . There are 3 .mdw files inside this folder, and I found that system3.mdw works when I open Access 2010. Thus, I replace this file with my own workgroup file (of course, you have to make a copy of the original system3.mdw before you replace with yours). Now that I have launched my .mdb , a username / password dialog will appear.

Answer 3

Target is OK Without quotes (") for .mdw and .mdb: as files

"C: \ Program Files \ Microsoft Office \ Office14 \ MSACCESS.EXE" C: __ tmp \ zzzzz.mdb / WRKGRP C: __ tmp \ Security.mdw