How To Troubleshoot the User Authentication Dialog Box While Opening a Non-Secure Database

This article describes why the User Authentication dialog box may appear in a non-secure database. This article also describes how you can troubleshoot this problem.

In Access, information about users, passwords, and groups that the users belong to is stored in the workgroup information file. When the Access database is opened, Access uses the most recently created or joined workgroup information file to authenticate the user.

For the non-secure database, the default user is set to Admin. No password is set for the Admin user. Therefore, the user authentication information is not asked for when you open the non-secure database.

When you open an Access non-secure database, the User Authentication dialog box may display for the following reasons:

You Use an Irrelevant Workgroup Information File

• Join a Secured Workgroup Information File

  If the recently created or modified workgroup information file is a secured workgroup information file, when you open an Access non-secure database, Access uses the secured workgroup information file. Therefore, you are prompted for user authentication information.

• Join an Altered Workgroup Information File

  If the workgroup information file that is in use is altered so that the Admin user has a password, Access prompts you for the user authentication information.

The User Authentication dialog box may appear when you access a non-secure database. This is not desirable. To resolve this problem, you can use one of the following methods:

• Use the Relevant Workgroup Information File to Open the Database

  1. Click Start and then click Run.
  2. In the Run dialog box, type the following path:
     "<Absolute_path_of_MSAccess.exe>" "<Absolute_path_of_the _database>" /wrkgrp "<Absolute_path_of_Workgroup_information_file>"
     For example:
     
     "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSAccess.Exe" "C:\MyAppFolder\MyApp.MDB" /wrkgrp "C:\MyAppFolder\System.MDW"
  3. Click OK.

• Create and Join a New Workgroup Information File

  For additional information about how to create a new workgroup information file, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  303941 ACC97: Understanding the Role of Workgroup Information Files in Access Security
  305541 ACC2000: Understanding the Role of Workgroup Information Files in Access Security
  305542 ACC2002: Understanding the Role of Workgroup Information Files in Access Security

Access Establishes ODBC Connection at Startup

Access connects to other database servers by using Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). This connection may be made through linked tables and pass-through queries. If the connection to the ODBC server is not a trusted connection, then the User Authentication dialog box appears when Access connects to the database server.

If you open a non-secure database that tries to establish a connection to other database servers by using the ODBC connection at startup, the User Authentication dialog box may appear. This dialog box is intended for authentication on the ODBC server instead of authentication in Access.

To see if the database is connecting to an ODBC server at startup, follow these steps:

1. Run Access.
2. Press SHIFT and then open the database.
   
   Note If you press SHIFT when you open a database, you can skip the Startup options, if there are any.
3. If the User Authentication dialog box does not appear, the Startup options that are set for the database will establish the connection to the ODBC server.
   
   To see if Access establishes a connection to an ODBC server at startup, you can check the Startup options that are set for the Access database. The Startup options for the Access database may be set by using either of the following methods:

   • Use the Startup Utility That Is Provided in Access

     1. On the Tools menu, click Startup in the Database window.
     2. In the Startup dialog box, see if a form or if a page is specified in the Display Form/Page list box.
        
        If the specified form depends on a linked table or a pass-through query, the User Authentication dialog box is intended for authentication on the ODBC Server.

   • Use an Autoexec Macro

     1. In the Database window, click Macros.
     2. Open the macro that is named Autoexec in Design view.
     3. Check the macro to see if any of the following Actions are defined:
        • OpenQuery
        • OpenForm
        • RunCode
          
          If any of the Actions tries to connect to the ODBC server, the User Authentication dialog box is intended for authentication on the ODBC server.
   Note To avoid the display of the User Authentication dialog box, you can establish an ODBC connection as a trusted user.

You Open the Access Database in a Non-Access Application

The User Authentication dialog box may also appear if you open an Access database in any of the following ways:

• by using a non-Access application, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Notepad
• by using a hyperlink from another Microsoft Office program
• by using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) automation code

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For more information about ODBC connection in Access, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type how to connect to an ODBC database in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.