Access file does not open.

A

ARG

My Access 2002 database was working fine until one day I tried to open the
file and received the following message: "The Microsoft Jet database engine
stopped the process because you and another user are attempting to change the
same data at the same time. OK Help" There is no other user, and so the
message seems inappropriate, but I click on Help and am advised that this is
Error 3197. Apparently there is a way to overwrite the "other user's"
changes, which is exactly what I want to do, of course, but how do I
accomplish this when I cannot open the database, not even in design view? I
have been using a version of the database I saved a week before this
happened, but I do not want to lose a week of data collection, some of which
will be lost if I cannot open the problem file.
 
A

ARG

Having received your reply, I went to the folder where the Access MDB file
was located, and indeed there was a corresponding LDB file as you predicted.
I then deleted the LDB file, but my subsequent attempts to open the Access
MDB file have all resulted in the same error message. I think we are on the
right track, however. Several days ago, just before the problem with this
Access file developed, my computer became unresponsive and to get it going
again I had to depress the "off" button.

In your message you recommended that I start by deleting the LDB file. Is
there something else I should do as well? I appreciate your help with this.
 
A

ARG

Thanks for your reply. I searched my computer for LDB files, found one more
and deleted it. I waited a day. I rebooted several times. All to no avail.
I still get Error 3197 when I try to open the Access file.

I searched this discussion group for "Error 3197" and found that I was not
the only one with this problem. One of the suggestions someone had was to
attempt to open the file with a newer version of Access. I happened to have
Access 2003 installed on another computer and so I copied the file and tried
to open it with Access 2003, but the result was the same, "Error 3197."

I think my file was corrupted when my computer crashed, and that it has been
rendered unusable. Computers really should not crash at all, but it is
something we all live with and accept as inevitable. As for Access, "Error
3197" is a major flaw. The file I lost was a database I was developing for
my employer. Now I am hesistant to recommend that the staff use Access at
all. The only work-around is to make frequent copies as backups, something
few people are likely to do. Everyone else runs the risk of losing the
entire database and all the information that was entered into it. Just think
of all effort that has been lost by people who bought this product in good
faith hoping to improve their efficiency. In my view, Microsoft has a moral
obligation to address this defect and eliminate it.
 
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