MS Access Application requires login User/PW

Question

As of today, Access365 decided to prompt me for a username and password whenever I try to open a database:

This happens even when opening an new accdb-Files, so it's definetly not file-specific.

Additional Info: This started occuring after I opened an old legacy Acc2003 mdb-database that required a custom workgroup stored in an mdw-File.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\MSACCESS.EXE" 
"Y:\CH02 Human Resources Schweiz\HR-Vertrieb\Alabin\Alabin90\alapgm90.mdb" 
/wrkgrp "y:\CH02 Human Resources Schweiz\HR-Vertrieb\Alabin\Alabin90\Baslersys90.mdw"

That link has been used for years by my colleagues, and is only been adjusted to link to the Access365-Path.

Despite the custom workgroup the database itself wasn't password protected, only the VBA-project.

Could there be a problem with the custom workgroup, that screws with some system default?

Any hints are appreciated.

Cheers, Martin

Answer 1

Sounds like someone messed with the system workgroup file settings.

The system workgroup file is the workgroup file used when opening all Access databases. If that workgroup is password-protected, you will always have to enter a password when opening a database, even if the database itself isn't protected. Generally, you want to avoid using a protected system workgroup file.

You can find this setting under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines\SystemDB (where 16.0 is your office version). Afaik, you can delete the entire registry key without problems.

It's not that unusual for an Access database to register the system workgroup file on opening to avoid requiring custom links. That's a terrible practice, though, and causes this exact problem.