In Access 2010, how do you open a database (created in Access 2003) which requires an .mdw file to be used? In Access 2003 you had to reference the .mdw file first. I can't find out how you would do that in Access 2010.
Can someone tell me how to open the .mdb file in Access 2010?
To open an Access database that has user-level security enabled and does not use the system default Workgroup (.mdw) file you need to launch Access with command-line arguments that specify the database to be opened and the Workgroup (.mdw) file to be used. This is usually done with 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 accomplished from a batch file or similar "launcher" app.
Instead of using a command line to access your .mdb using your original workgroup file, I actually go to the folder where the new workgroup file is, and replace it with my own. The path to the new workgroup file is: C:\users\user\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Access. Inside this folder, there are 3 .mdw files and I found out that system3.mdw is running when I open Access 2010. As such, I replace this file with my own workgroup file (of course, you should make a copy of the original system3.mdw before you replace it with your own). Now when I run my .mdb, the username/password dialog box will appear.
Target is ok Without the quotes (") for the .mdw and .mdb file : as
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\MSACCESS.EXE" C:__tmp\zzzzz.mdb /WRKGRP C:__tmp\Security.mdw
Joining a workgroup is still possible in later version.
From the Debug Window, simply run:
DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdWorkgroupAdministrator`
and browse for your mdw file.
