MDB in Read Only, No .ldb, What to do

[schwimms]

Hi All,

I have a 2007 microsoft access database that when is opened shows it as read only but does not have a .ldb file. The database is located on a shares so that other users can access it. My questions are:

Is there a way to unlock the file set in read only? I found this post but it did not work.

Is there a way I can see what is locking the database? I have a field in the only table the users access that captures the last person that made an update although even if I have that user log off it doesn't unlock the database.

I'm strapped on ideas, please help me before I jump out the window!.. jk

[ajetrumpet]

have you tried all the obvious first?? make a copy, check for log ons, have all others restart machines, you restart your machine, hold SHIFT down on open, tried importing objects in that db into a fresh file, etc...

have you covered all those basis??

[schwimms]

Thanks for you response. Answers:

-What do you mean by make a copy? I can do that but I would then need to replace the current file with the copied file but it won't let me because the file is locked.

-There is about 15 users that use this file. I can't have everyone restart their computer everytime this happens... with that said I believe I've had everyone restart in the past with no luck anyways.

-Not sure what holding down shift will do. I just tried it, nothing different happened when I opened it.

-What do you mean by try to import objects in that db to a fresh file?

Currently what I am doing to correct this problem is making a copy of the database going into 8 different places to change connection strings to my new copied database. This is inefficient although I don't know if there is anything else I can do.

[ajetrumpet]

-There is about 15 users that use this file. I can't have everyone restart their computer everytime this happens...

but WHEN does this happen?? any structure to that??

[schwimms]

It seems to happen randomly. I can see who the last user was who input something into the database and it's never the same person. The only thing I know is that someone is making an update to the database when it locks up.

[schwimms]

I'm still having this issue and it is driving me insane. Anyone else with any suggestions?

[schwimms]

Still having this issue. Not resolved yet. IT is able to log into the shares and find who is locking it but it takes me forever to get them to respond. It needs to be resolved instantly after it locks.

[jsantora]

Sorry, 2014 and I'm having this problem randomly too. in my case the LDB goes away normally, but the MDB is still locked by some user. Opening it in Access says its read-only on the header. It acts like I suddenly don't have permissions to open it read/write. When it does open in read-only mode, the LDB gets created, so I have read/write/delete permissions to the folder.
The File/Options checkbox for Shared vs Exclusive is set to shared.
Exited Access, the LDB deletes itself normally,
I get a "someone has the file open" windows error if I try to delete or rename the mdb.
We ended up making a copy of the MDB, and the copy works fine. But now we have two MDBs and the original is still locked up which is going to require a call to IT to have them delete the file.
Will post a solution, of course, if I ever figure this out.

[John_G]

The network database that is suddenly read only - is it just data (tables) , or are all the forms, reports, etc. in there too? If the forms etc. are in that file, that is your problem, I suspect. You need to split your database, with only the DATA (called the back end) on the shared drive, and a copy of the forms, queries, etc. on all the users' own workstations Those copies are the front end.

Having all users access the same database file with the forms is virtually guaranteed to cause problems. One of those problems can be that any time one user is making changes to a database object (a form, for example), it makes the database read-only for everyone else.

Might this be your problem?

John

[jsantora]

Thanks for the reply...I don't have any forms in this MDB, only table and queries. I have a VB6 app that accesses the tables and queries, and it provides the GUI. I have over 25 apps and 500 or so users that use this architecture. The apps have been in operation for 10 years. This problem with the MDB suddenly going read-only has just started. I suspect its some kind of server problem.
* last weekend the MDB was read-only all day saturday and sunday. just as I was about to call IT on monday morning, the file become unlocked, and was now accessible normally.
* the problem happened again, today, sunday, so I'm waiting to see if something runs on the server sunday night (maybe a backup or scheduled reboot of the server) to see if it clears up again on its own.

As a test, I created another MDB and set the Read-only checkbox on the properties tab. I get the same error message as the real problem case. of course, the real MDB with the problem does not have this checkbox checked. Nor is the folder read-only.

[Tom_S]

I've had the exact same problem. It started three weeks ago with one database and it looks like it may have just started again today with another. Has anybody made any progress solving this one?

[Rawb]

If the Queries are stored on the BE db, try running one of them from the VB6 FE and see if it creates an LDB file.

Opening a read/write Query is going to be the same as opening a Table (since Tables are accessed when you run a Query), so if an LDB file isn't created when you open one, that's possibly the cause of your phantom locking issues.