I am having a file-locking problem with an Access database. The .mdb and
..ldb files both remain locked even after all users have closed Access.
The project is an Access 2000 database split into a front-end and a
back-end. The back-end is on a shared server on a Windows network. I am
offsite; when I want to make changes to the back-end, I use Remote Desktop
Connection to take over one of the office PCs. I always do this after hours,
when all users have closed the app. Every time I try to work on the
back-end, however, I find an .ldb file (even though all users have closed
Access) and I find that both the .mdb and .ldb files are locked by the file
system. This often prevents me from making the desired changes to the
back-end.
Twice, I have been able to reach someone in the office during these
after-hours sessions. Both times, he has confirmed that no one is running
the app. Once, I asked him to reboot the server. That worked (it freed the
files), but is not a practical solution to the problem.
My guess is that Access is not shutting down properly when users close the
app. This may be due to flaws in the app, network glitches, or both. In any
case, I am not ready to tackle that problem. My primary goal is to clean-up
the back-end ASAP, by any means necessary. Thus, I am looking for a way to
safely and reliably remove the file system locks, while using a remote
connection, without the assistance of anyone on-site.
Can anyone tell me how to do that?
-Todd Matson
