Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide

Setting a Database Password

Adding a database password is an easy way to prevent unauthorized users from opening your solution. Use this approach when you need to control which users can open your solution, but not what they do after providing the correct database password. This method can be used only with .mdb files.

To set a database password

1. Close the database. If the database is being shared on a network, make sure no other users have it open.
   
   
2. Make a backup copy of your database and store it in a secure place.
   
   
3. On the File menu, click Open.
   
   
4. Navigate to the folder that contains the database and select it in the file list, click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open Exclusive.
   
   
5. On the Tools menu, point to Security, and then click Set Database Password.
   
   
6. In the Password box, type the password. Passwords are case-sensitive.
   
   
7. In the Verify box, type the password again to confirm it, and then click OK.

The password is now set. Each time a user tries to open the database, a dialog box appears that requests the database password.

Caution   Write down your database password and keep it in a safe place. If your database password is lost or forgotten, you won't be able to open your database or retrieve the information it contains.

Do not use a database password if you plan to replicate the database. You can't synchronize a replicated database if a database password has been set. Defining User-Level security permissions doesn't interfere with replica synchronization.

When you set a database password, the Set Database Password command changes to Unset Database Password. To clear a database password, open the database in exclusive mode, click Unset Database Password on the Security submenu (Tools menu), type the correct password in the Password box, then confirm it in the Verify box.