ACC: Permissions Needed for Workdir Folder (136140)

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Access on a network workstation, you may receive the following error messages:

Can't update. Database or object is read only.

   -and-

A system error occurred, or there isn't enough free memory to start Microsoft Access. Close unneeded programs and try again.

RESOLUTION

Make sure that all Microsoft Access users have at least Read and Write permissions for the Workdir folder. The first user to run the Microsoft Access Wizards also needs Create permissions so that Microsoft Access can create the associated .ldb files. After the .ldb files are created, the users will no longer require Create permissions unless any of the users have Delete permissions for the Workdir folder. This is because of the new automatic creation and deletion behavior of .ldb files in Microsoft Access.

NOTE: You need to explicitly give Create permissions for Novell networks.

For more information about .ldb files in Microsoft Access 95 and Microsoft Access 97, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

136128 ACC: Introduction to .ldb Files (95/97)

If your operating system does not allow you to have a single read/write folder of a read-only shared folder, make the Microsoft Access program folder read/write, but make all the files in the Microsoft Access program folders (except for the Workdir folder) read-only.

For more information about permissions needed for the Workdir folder, refer to the Netwrk8.txt file, which is located in the Office folder on the Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 1 CD. This file is also copied to the server during an administrative installation of Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 1.

MORE INFORMATION

When you start Microsoft Access on a network workstation, you must have Write permissions for the following files in the Workdir folder on the server.

For more information about permissions needed by the Workdir folder, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

167172 OFF97: Workdir Needs Add'l Permissions for Workstation Install

In Microsoft Access 97

   System.mdw, Wizard.srg, Wzcnf80.mda, Wzdat80.mdt, Wzlib80.mde,
   Wzmain80.mde, and Wztool80.mde (the wizard files)

In Microsoft Access 95

   System.mdw, Wd95acc.tlb, Wzdat70.mdt, Wzlib70.mda, Wzmain70.mda,
   and Wztool.mda (the wizard files)

NOTE: The Utility.mda file is installed in the parent folder of the Workdir folder (whether this is an Office install or Microsoft Access install) and should be read-only.

To verify that the problem you are having is caused by incorrect permissions for the Workdir folder, try using a supervisory-level logon to start Microsoft Access on the workstation.