ACC: "Can't Encrypt Database" Error Message Is Misleading

ID: Q162089

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0, 97

SUMMARY

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

When you try to encrypt a database, you may receive the following error message:

You can't encrypt a database that you didn't create or don't own. See the owner of the database or your workgroup administrator.

This message is incomplete. It should also include being a member of the Admins group of the system database that was in use when the database was created as a requirement for encrypting the database.

MORE INFORMATION

The requirements for encrypting a database are as follows:

Microsoft Access requires that one of the following be true for the person trying to encrypt a database:

The person is the owner of the database.

The person is the creator of the database.

The person is a member of the Admins group in the workgroup (the default name is system.mdw) that was in use when the database was created.

NOTE: Encrypting a database compacts the database file and makes it unreadable by a utility program or word processor. It is used to prevent someone using a file or disk editor from reading or writing data directly to an .MDB file, bypassing the Microsoft Jet database engine.

REFERENCES

For more information about encrypting a database, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q140406 ACC: How Microsoft Access Uses Encryption


Keywords          : kberrmsg 
Version           : 1.0 1.1 2.0 7.0 97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: May 3, 1999