Knowledge Base

ACC: Cannot Use /pwd Option with Password-Protected Database

Article ID: 161177

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q161177

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to start Microsoft Access by using the /pwd command-line option to open a database that is password-protected, the Logon dialog box is displayed, even if you supply the correct password.

CAUSE

The /pwd option is used to provide the user-level security account password, not the database password.

RESOLUTION

Only use the /pwd command-line option to supply the user-level security account password.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Access offers two way to protect a database with a password:

Database password - to control who can open a database.
Security Account password - to verify users when they log on to a workgroup.

The database password can prevent unauthorized users from opening a particular database. When you set a database password, all users must type that password before they can open the database. However, after the database is open, there are no security restrictions on what operations a user can perform in that database.

The Security Account password is used when you define user-level security for a workgroup. With user-level security, you must type a username and a password to open a database. After the database is open, your username determines the type of access you have to each object in the database.

When you use the /pwd command-line option, it always applies to a Security Account password.

You may also see this behavior if you are using user-level security and you do not supply the correct user-level password. In this case as well, you do not receive an error message.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure you are using the correct case as well. If, for instance, you have assigned the password "oneSock" to yourself, and then you try using the the password "onesock" with the /pwd command-line option, Access prompts you for the password and you receive no error.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Open the sample database Northwind.mdb for exclusive access.
On the Tools menu, point to Security, and then click Set Database password.
Type Northwind in the Password box and in the Verify box.
Click OK to close the Set Database Password dialog box.
Close the database and quit Microsoft Access.
Start Microsoft Access with command-line options to open the Northwind database and send the password. The sample command line below uses the default installation path for Microsoft Access 97 files; substitute the path to Msaccess.exe and Northwind.mdb on your hard disk.

NOTE: In the following command-line sample, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of each line, and type the entire command as a single line.

In Microsoft Windows 95 or later, and in Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type the following line in the Open box, and then click OK.
```
         "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe" _
         "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb" _
         /pwd Northwind
                                
```
In Microsoft Windows NT version 3.51:
1. In Program Manager or File Manager, click Run on the File menu.
2. In the Run dialog box, type the following line in the Command Line box, and then click OK.
```
         "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe" _
         "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb" _
         /pwd Northwind
                                
```
Note that Microsoft Access displays the user-level security Logon dialog box even though you provided the database password on the command line.

To remove the database password from the Northwind database, follow these steps.

Open the sample database Northwind.mdb for exclusive access.
In the Password Required dialog box, type Northwind, and then click OK.
On the Tools menu, click Security, and then click Unset Database Password.
Type Northwind in the Password box, and then click OK.
Close the database and quit Microsoft Access.

REFERENCES

For more information about the differences between security account passwords and a database password, search the Help Index for "user accounts, passwords," or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.

For more information about using command-line options to start Microsoft Access, search the Help Index for "command-line options," or see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

105128 ACC: How to Use Command-Line Switches in Microsoft Access

Keywords: kbprb kbui KB161177

Microsoft KB Archive/161177

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