Running the Microsoft Access User-Level Security Wizard

The next step does the actual work of securing your application.

The User-Level Security Wizard creates a new database, exports copies of all of the objects from the original database, secures the object types you selected by revoking all permissions of the Users group for those objects in the new database, and then encrypts the new database. The original database isn’t changed in any way.

If you choose to secure all object types in the database, the User-Level Security Wizard removes the Users group’s Open/Run permission for the database itself. This means that only members of the Admins group of the workgroup information file in use when you run the User-Level Security Wizard can open the new secured database. No other users of Microsoft Access or Visual Basic can open the database or access the secured objects within it.

If you choose to secure only some object types in the database, the User-Level Security Wizard doesn’t remove the Users group’s Open/Run permission for the database itself. In this case, all users of Microsoft Access and Visual Basic can open the new secured database and access unsecured objects, but they can’t access the secured objects within it.

Note that the User-Level Security Wizard does not change the original database in any way. The new database it creates becomes your secured database. At that point, the only users that can access the objects you select when running the wizard are your administrator account and any other users in the Admins group of the workgroup information file in use when you run the wizard. To provide access to other users, create users and groups and assign them the appropriate permissions.

Important Make sure you’re using the workgroup information file that you created in procedure described in the “Creating the Workgroup Information File” section above. You can confirm this by running Workgroup Administrator (Wrkgadm.exe). If your workgroup information file isn’t displayed in the first Workgroup Administrator dialog box, click Join and select your workgroup information file. Do not use the default System.mdw workgroup information file that ships with Microsoft Access.

Û To secure your application with the Microsoft Access User-Level Security Wizard

1. Start Microsoft Access and enter the name for the new administrator account in the Logon dialog box. The account has no password the first time you use it, so don’t enter a password.

   This step ensures that the User-Level Security Wizard treats your new administrator account as the owner of all objects in the database.

   Tip After you log on, you can define a password using the Change Logon Password tab on the User and Group Accounts dialog box (Tools menu, Security submenu).

2. Open the database you want to secure.
   
   
3. On the Tools menu, point to Security, and then click User-Level Security Wizard.
   
   
4. Select the check boxes for the object types you want to secure, and then click OK.