You cannot safely copy an Access database while it is in use. If there are
multiple users, and someone could be connected to the back end on another
computer, you cannot merely copy the back end file without the possibility
that the copy if corrupt.
An alternative is to work your way through the tables to make a backup of
the data table-by-table, and just ignore any tables that are currently
locked. This means the back up may be incomplete. It also means that the
backup itself may be incompatible (e.g. if you copied a table of related
records just as someone was deleting a record on the ONE side of the join
which then doesn't appear when you copy the primary table.)
If you are prepared to take those chances (on the argument that any back up
is better than none), I can't recommend it, but here's an example of how
it's done:
http://allenbrowne.com/unlinked/backup.txt
--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia
Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.