Access opened exculsively, all users logged out but got 'file in use' message

[powell05]

My Access Front-end and Back-end database reside on a shared network drive. Until last week I was able to backup the backend database on our shared Drive with no issues (original and backup copies are on the same drive for easy access in case of emergency and the company does a separate daily backup offsite). Last week I started to get a message at the completion of a backup or compact & repair job that states that the database 'file is already in use' (see image). It appears that the backup job was completed despite the file in use message. I verified that the backups to the shared network drive were viable by doing a restore from one of the backend DB backup files.





Today, during the most recent backup, all users were logged off the front and backend database and I opened the backend database as 'exclusive'. All folder/subfolders that contain the Access DB files have write permissions. No settings were changed on the database prior to this message showing up after the backup job. Again, I got the 'file in use' message.

Any ideas why this message would suddenly occur and how to get it to stop? Could it be network related (DB has always resided in the same folder on the shared network drive). I copied the database to my local machine and did NOT get the 'file in use' message when I performed a backup so I thought it could be network related. Thanks in advance for ideas.

[ssanfu]

My Access Front-end and Back-end database reside on a shared network drive.

Does that mean that ALL users open the FE on the shared network drive???
Or does each user have a copy of the FE on their local computer?

If ALL users are using the one FE on the shared network drive, you are set up for a major case of corruption. Not a matter of IF, just a matter of WHEN.

[CJ_London]

Agree with Steve, if users are sharing the front end then this is the most likely reason. Your issue implies corruption.

Another reason could be if one or more users are connecting wirelessly and have suffered a brief interruption in that connection

Note that compact/repair will resolve many corruption issues, but not all

[Micron]

Look in the network folder for a leftover ldb or .laccdb file and try to delete it (when you think no one is logged it). It is not enough for users to have write permissions - they must have at least delete as well, otherwise when they log out of the db, they can cause a lock file to remain. It could take a long time for the network to remove it automatically.

[powell05]

Does that mean that ALL users open the FE on the shared network drive???
Or does each user have a copy of the FE on their local computer?

If ALL users are using the one FE on the shared network drive, you are set up for a major case of corruption. Not a matter of IF, just a matter of WHEN.

Good Morning!

Thanks for your response! Each database user has a copy of the Front-end on their local desktop and never use the original copy of the Front-End on the J Drive. All backups were finished without the 'file in use' message until last Wednesday (May 19th) and no changes were made to the DB settings. I appreciate your help!

[powell05]

Agree with Steve, if users are sharing the front end then this is the most likely reason. Your issue implies corruption.

Another reason could be if one or more users are connecting wirelessly and have suffered a brief interruption in that connection

Note that compact/repair will resolve many corruption issues, but not all

Good Morning!

As I said to Steve, each user has their own local copy of the Front End DB. I requested that all users logout and close their Front-End DB before I tried the backup so no one was connected. There was NO locked file. I appreciate your help!

[powell05]

Good Morning,

I did not see a .laccdb file in the network file but I will double check again. I will also recheck the permissions I appreciate your help!

[CJ_London]

If you open a dB exclusively then a laccdb file is not created

[Micron]

Assuming the error isn't being raised as soon as you open the db (you stated that error is raised near the end of the process):

If code is running during the backup, did you recently make code changes? The issue might lie there.
Did you recently upgrade Access? I've seen several posts where less than perfect code failed to run on newer versions.
Did network admin change permissions on the db folder, or permissions of a user who is trying to run the backup?
Perhaps the update code is locking a set of records or something is not terminating and another step in the process is trying to modify it. Kind of like how you can raise an error about someone else making changes to records after you, yet you're the only one in a stand alone db.

You might have to do some sleuthing. Stepping through the code likely won't reveal a timing issue but may be worth a try while looking for some other cause.
If it's a multi step process and if this error is trappable (error 3045?), each step could set a module level variable. Your error handler could then report which step it is in when the error is raised. At least you could see what part is being executed when the error is raised.

Make sure the code is compiled.

[powell05]

The 'file in use' message does occur AFTER the backup is completed. It appears that the backup was viable because when I restored the DB, all was correct. I made no code changes, no updates to Access but it is possible that our network admin changed permissions on the db folder or permissions of a user who is trying to run the backup so I will have to check with the Admin.

I moved a copy of the Front-end and Back-end to my local machine and performed the backup of the local copies without this message occurring. That leads me to believe it may be network related. Thank you for the help and tips. Greatly appreciated!

[Micron]

Please do post you solution when/if you find it so that future readers might benefit.
Thanks.

[powell05]

I will do so if I find a solution! Thank you again for the help.