administrator gone

[Digace]

Our database administrator has left our company. problem is he had the only
administrator rights and we dont know his password (he didnt leave on good
terms so no cooperation there) is there a way to copy the information to a
new database and not bring along the existing security settings?
2003 MOA SP2

 

[Joe]

You should be able bypass startup options by holding down the shift key while
opening the db, if that doesn't work, create a new database and try importing
all the table, forms, etc.
HTH

 

[Sprinks]

Digace,

The database and the rights to access it belongs to your company, whether
the System Administrator left on good terms or not. I suggest your President
or Owner write him a letter requesting the password. Depending on how you
think he may respond, you may also imply or state directly that the next
action will be from your attorney.

Sprinks

 

[Jerry Whittle]

/* Rant mode on.
The supervisor of this person should probably be fired. That supervisor
should frequently demand an up-to-date list of passwords from any of their
employees who have valuable company data protected. Further that supervisor
should test these passwords frequently. The only out for the supervisor is if
the administrator changed the password just before going out the door. I'll
further state that this is also what companies deserve for not having
alternate personnel for critical jobs like database administrator.
Rant mode off. */

If the Administrator did a good job of locking down the database security,
you can only do what he allowed the users to do. You may not even be able to
export the data. In this case Sprinks suggestion is best. Failing that, there
are companies that attempt to break into Access databases for a fee. Google
"Access Database Crack" or "Access Database password recovery". I have not
used any of the companies or software therefore have no recommendations.

Fortunately Access user level security is a little hard to implement
correctly. It's possible that the administrator didn't do it correctly and
there are ways to bypass things. You probably need an expert in your area to
attempt this.

 

[Larry Linson]

I'm mostly in agreement with what Jerry calls his "rant". If the company
has not taken steps to assure that there is an alternate administrator, and
additional steps to check that the policy is being followed, then they
should be, at best, "embarrassed." That doesn't mean that they don't own the
database, or that they can't take legal action against the dismissed
employee, however.

But, if they can't convince the dismissed employee to cooperate, it can be
both messy and expensive. Just because the employee created the database, or
applied security while employed, is not a guarantee that the employer owns
it, though that is normally the case. If the person who created it was a
contractor, and the work was not identified as a "work done for hire", then
by default, the creator owns it. But "default" or "normally the case" are
subject to the facts of the individual situation, and determining ownership
can be another item in the court's backlog and a windfall for some
intellectual property lawyers.

. . . Failing that, there are companies that attempt to break
into Access databases for a fee. Google "Access Database
Crack" or "Access Database password recovery". I have not
used any of the companies or software therefore have no
recommendations.

Unfortunately for those with a legitimate need, several of the most
accomplished people in this area have gotten out of the business. At least
one I know did so because of potential legal liability (he had no way to
make a valid determination that it was actually the owner who was asking to
have security broken); another did so because there wasn't enough demand for
his product (which worked very well) to provide ROI to justify creating new
versions.

Fortunately Access user level security is a little hard to
implement correctly. It's possible that the administrator
didn't do it correctly and there are ways to bypass things.
You probably need an expert in your area to
attempt this.

This is, likely, the best option to pursue... contact an experienced Access
consultant, and be sure to inquire up-front if they will do this kind of
work. Many of us, like the expert who stopped because of potential legal
liability, will not -- you may well get a response similar to "No offense
intended, but I have no way of knowing whether you are or are not the owner
of the database."

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP