Hi all,

First off, I'd like to thank the members of this forum for helping me solve so many problem's I've had with Access in the past. This is my first time posting, and I hope that you guys can help me out with this issue:

I'm trying to redesign an old database (mdb) that was created with Access 97 because some reports are not being generated correctly. It was distributed with and intended to be opened by MSARN200.exe. This works fine, but I cannot redesign any forms or debug any problems. But when I try to open up the same database with a MSACCESS.exe (97 version), I get the troublesome "the current user account doesn't have permission to convert or enable this database." I've joined the workgroup as an Admin (stored in an MDA file that was also distributed with the database) to no avail. Is there something that makes the MSARN200.exe unique in opening the database?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Can you export to a new Database that is not secured?

hey rainlover, thanks for the response

when I tried importing everything into a new mdb, I successfully imported all of the queries, reports, etc.; but many of the forms were not imported. Instead, form by form, I got the message "You don't have permission to import, export, or link to '[form name]'...you must have Read Design and Read Data permissions for it".
I'm not sure why this is. I used the provided MSARN200.exe to open/edit the SYSTEM.mda workgroup file, and all of the permissions seem to be wide open (I set every thing to the "Administer" permission, which includes read design & data).
What's also strange is that MSARN200.exe cannot open the new mdb that I created; it says "It may not be a Microsoft Access database, or the file may be corrupt."

Let me start by saying that I am not familar with MSARN200.exe. So I am in the dark in that regard.

I do suspect that it has something to do with a Runtime Version of MS Access.

I further suspect that it it is not Access 97 but a version prior to that. Either 95 or perhaps Version 2.

Back to your problem.

If you created a new Database and exported some objects to that file then you should be able to open that by a simple Double Click. Provided that your settings will open with 97. You will no longer need the MSARN200.exe to open this new Database.

Do I understand that you exported to your new Database everything except a few Forms?

Back to you.

And to everone else on this site if you have any experience in this please chime in.

Edit

Please confirm that you are using Access 97.

Yeah, I dug up an old CD of Access 97 to try and revive this database.

I tried to import everything (select all --> import) but most of the forms don't import. Everything else was imported just fine, including several linked tables.

Wow that's some ancient software...now I'm not sure if a definitive solution is out there, since this database was probably made with an ancient version of Access on an ancient version of Windows. Does anyone even remember using those programs? I tried running this on a virtual windows 95...what a blast from the past.

Thanks again for looking at this issue!

edit:
The database was indeed made with a version of access before 97

Were you able to open the new version?

By new version do you mean the new database that I imported things into? Everthing that I imported into that database works fine.

So it appears that you have a new Database that works fine (with no security) but you are missing some forms.

Can you log onto the original Database as owner?

You would need the user name of the owner.

Here is an idea.

Log on as Administrator and remove the Password for the owner.

Log out and back in as owner with no password and try again to export those forms.

I think this might work. Good luck and keep me posted.

Since the original .mdb does not open with Access, I have to open it with MSARN200.exe. When I use masarn to open other .mdb's, all of the menu options are there (File, Edit, View, Security, etc.). In these cases, I can easily change the User permissions through the Security drop-down menu.
But when I open the problem .mdb, the options View and Security are not available. I tried the bypass (Shift+Open) to no avail.

frustrating, ain't it? thanks again for sticking with this issue

I have a little utility somewhere that may overcome that for you.

The Shift Open thing.

I will send it later today but for now I must rush out the door.

You could google for the same thing as there are other versions out there.

It looks like MSARN200.EXE is from Access 2.0. I don't know if it will help but Microsoft has a converter from v2.0 ro v2003.

__________________
(RG for short) aka Allan Bunch MS Access MVP - WinXP Pro, Win7 - acXP, ac07
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yeah, the converter was the first thing i tried...and unfortunately the first failure

Try this utility to enable the By Pass Key.

Attached Files

AllowBypassKey.zip (30.8 KB, 4 views)

i'm not sure if i'm running that utility correctly--both access 97 and msarn200 don't recognize and cannot open the mdb.

Open the Utility with Access 2003