Several problems in Access database security

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Problem

1. What is a Microsoft Access workgroup and how do I create a workgroup information file?

2. How do I open the Workgroup manager?

3. How do I allow others to view or execute a query, but not change the data or query design?

4. How do I prevent copying, setting database passwords, or changing startup options?

5. How to define user-level security?

Q: What is a Microsoft Access workgroup and how do I create a workgroup information file?

A. Microsoft Access Workgroup is a group of users who share data in a multiuser environment. If user-level security is defined, members of the workgroup are recorded in the user account and group accounts, which are saved in the Microsoft Access workgroup information file. The user's password is also saved in the workgroup information file. You can specify permissions for the database and its objects for these security accounts. The permissions themselves are stored in the security database.

In Microsoft Access 97, the user's settings are stored in the Hkey_current_usersoftwaremicrosoftoffice8.0accesssettings keyword in the Windows registry. In older versions of Microsoft Access, the user option settings defined in the Options dialog box are recorded in the workgroup information file.

The default workgroup is defined by the workgroup information file that Setup automatically creates in the folder in which Microsoft Access is installed. You can use the Workgroup Manager to recreate a workgroup.

Q: How do I open the Workgroup manager?

A: If you are using Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0, you can use my Computer or Windows Explorer to open the folder where Microsoft Access is installed (the default folder is program Filesm Icrosoft Officeoffice), and then double-click Wrkgadm.exe.

Q: How do I allow others to view or execute a query, but not change the data or query design?

A: In a security workgroup, you can specify that others view the query's permission to return data. If you are working with queries, you can also allow them to execute queries, even if they are restricted from viewing the base table or query for the query.

1 Open the query in Design view.

2 Click anywhere outside the design grid and field list in query Design view to select the query.

3 Click the Properties button on the toolbar to display the property sheet for the query.

4 Set the Execute permission property to "owner's".

When this property is set, the following conditions should occur:

。 All users have permission to view or execute queries from the owner of the query.

。 Only the query owner can save the changed query.

。 Only the query owner can change the ownership of the query.

Note You can also set the default permissions for all new queries. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Tables/Queries tab, and then click the Execute Permissions option you want to use.

Q: How do I prevent copying, setting the database password, or changing startup options?

A: If a shared database does not have user-level security defined, you cannot prevent users from making these changes. Once user-level security is defined, only user accounts or group accounts with administrator privileges can replicate, set passwords, or change startup properties.

Q: How to define user-level security?

For:

1 Join a security workgroup or create a new workgroup information file.

Important to fully secure your database, do not use the default workgroup defined by the workgroup information file that was created when you installed Microsoft Access. Instead, make sure that the workgroup information file that defines the workgroup you are joining is created with a unique workgroup ID (WID), or you should create a new workgroup.

2 Activate the Login dialog box.

How to: Start Microsoft Access, open the database, click User and group account on the Security submenu of the Tools menu, click the Users tab, make sure that the predefined administrator user account is displayed in the Name box, click the Change Login Password tab, Click the new Password box, and then type the new password. Do not enter any content in the old Password box, type the password again in the Verify box to confirm it, and then click OK. When you exit access and restart Access, the Login dialog box appears.

3 Create the administrator's user account.

Action method:

1 Open Workgroup manager, press "Join ..." button, choose to use the Security workgroup information file that you created in step 1th, exit the organizer, and start Microsoft Access.

Important If you want to make sure that the database is completely secure, do not use the default workgroup defined in the workgroup information file that was created when you installed Microsoft Access, and make sure that the workgroup information file that defines the workgroup you are using is created with a unique workgroup ID (WID). Otherwise, you should re-create a workgroup information file.

2 Select the user and group account command on the Security submenu of the Tools menu. Click the New button on the Users tab, in the New User/Group dialog box, type the Administrator account name and personal ID (PID), and then click OK to create a new account.

Caution Be sure to remember the correct account name and PID, including the case of letters, and keep them in a safe place. If you want to re-create the account number, you must supply its name and PID. Forgotten or lost Account name and PID will not be restored.

3 in the Available Groups box, click Administrators group, and then click the Add button. Microsoft Access adds the new administrator account to the Administrators group and displays the Administrators group in the member in box.

4 Click the OK button to create a new administrator account.

4 quit Microsoft Access and log on as a new administrator.

5 Delete the Administrator account in the Administrators group.

How to: Select the user and group account command on the Security submenu of the Tools menu, and in the Name box on the Users tab, enter the user you want to remove. In the Subordinate to box, select the group to which you want to administer group, and then click the Delete button.

6 Open the database for which you want to set up security.

7 Click the User-Level Security Wizard command on the Security submenu of the Tools menu.

8 Complete each step according to the Instructions in the wizard dialog box.

The user-Level Security wizard will create a new database, and export copies of all objects in the original database to the new database, and then set security for the selected object type in the first dialog box of the wizard, and then encrypt the new database by canceling all permissions on the user group for the new database object. The original database did not make any changes. The relationship between the tables and all the linked tables will be rebuilt in the new database.

Now, only members of the Workgroup Administrators group that you joined in step 1 can access the secured object in the new database. The Users group does not have permissions on these objects. To restrict user and/or group access to these objects, you must set permissions for them.