RE: Access - secure database

Hi Adrienne

Thanks for your question.

Access passwords come in two variations. The first is a database password, which locks the entire database. If you have the password, you can get in, but you can still edit the data.

The second variation is a user-level secuirity option. This is very involved, although it can prevent people from editing the data. you would need to be very clear about how you would structure the security, as it is easy to lock yourself out of the database.

I suggest making a copy of your database and playing around with TOOLS > SECURITY > USER LEVEL SECURITY WIZARD. Also read through the help file on USER LEVEL SECURITY.

TIP: If you lock youself out of Access completely, simply delete the database that you set the security in, completely from your machine. (That is why I suggest using a COPY of your database, until you are very clear about the process).


There are other ways that you could acheive making parts of your database read only.
Depending on how your users will use the database, you could use a mixture of the following:

Startup settings - to hide the database window
Read only settings on form - to limit access to data
Macros & Switchboards - to allow users to access the forms and reports that they need.

Does that answer your question?

Regards

Richard