Replies

Thanks John.

John, yes it is. And I have closed everything on each computer. Cleaned up the hard drives re installed and loaded the backup from the desktop and everything seems to be working now. I just pray I find out what I did that created this nightmare. I am sure it had something to do with me opening the mdb file in Access back in Dec. I did not think I changed anything. I was just looking at the structure. I don’t want to loose any data that we have for statistics for the last three years. I am trying to put together a database in Alpha 5 because this one will not let you export data. We need that desperately in order to apply for grants.

What I need is for someone to tell me what I am doing wrong. If I go to the folder where the mdb file is located, and it has been closed in the application and application has been shut down, I copy that file from the only folder that it resides in, how can I be copying any other file. All I am trying to do is move it from one computer to another. But, when I paste it into the folder of the other computer only “old data” is present. It is like there is a copy of what I used last on that specific computer that has been frozen in time.

I have found the problem and I am probably the culprit. I opened this database in Dec. with Access. I did not think that I changed anything. The vendor says when you try to change anything in access it will mess the application up, or at least the data. I hope someone can help.
My wife and myself worked 13 hours yesterday putting the data back in.
After putting some data in, I moved it to another computer to see if it would transfer. It did. Problem solved, right? No! I tried to move the data back to the laptop this morning and what I did yesterday on the laptop is all that is there.
Here is the problem. Cronk on Windowssecrets forum told me to look for a file being created with the extension .ldb. It seems Access creates this file when you open an mdb to prevent changes. It locks the file. So, somewhere on my laptop I have got to fix something to prevent this from happening.
Hope someone knows how. I do not use Access. I just opened the file to look at the structure.
Thanks

Cronk was right! But, I still need help. I will post details, as best I can. I have to go to the mission today without the data and will look at the forums that I have posted on when I get home. We have on internet at our mission.
Thanks

Thanks but I have already lost the file. It had to overwrite an old backup. I was told by the Vendor/developer today that my opening it in Access may have been my problem all along. They said that Access if I changed anything on purpose or by accident that it could “lock” the database with that date. They wrote the application in Visual Basic 6, not Access. Anyway thanks for trying.

Just to let everyone know that has tried to help. It will be a few days before I will be responding. What I suspected has happened. It copying the file so many times trying to make a true backup. It somehow overwrote the only good copy. So, now my earliest data dates 12/27/2011. I will have to try to recreate the data from my paper work. Some of my notes and memories of the clients are lost forever. I will post a follow up later. Thanks for trying.

I know also that it is the right file because I close it in the program/application before I do a backup and when I open it again it show you the folder where it resides in order to open it.

Here is my problem. The Vendor (developer) told me to do that last time this happened and I lost everything I had done for two weeks. Right now with the last backup that I have that works, although I have backed up each day, I will lose everything since 12/27/11.

I installed the software on another computer with a fresh install that has never had the application on it before and when I copied and pasted the mdb it’s data was two month old. Just cannot figure out what is going on.

I received the following from the Vendor today:

To answer your question, OutReach is written in Visual Basic 6; it uses an Access database to store the data.

I’m sure you probably have checked and re-checked every detail, but today when I was testing, trying to re-create your issue, I had to pay close attention to which MDB I needed to copy/paste/open and where it was located on each computer. So I want to make sure that when you copy and paste your database in Windows and open and close it in OutReach, you are making certain that you’re selecting the one you want. I’m sure you are, but I mention it just because that’s one of those details that can sometime trip ME up.

If the folks that are trying to help you have any specific suggestions about where they think the error might be, please pass that on and we’ll take a look.

Hope someone can help.

This is driving me up the wall. It does not matter what you do. You can put the file on a cd, memory stick, just copy the file outside of the program files (x86) and when you open the file the data is several weeks old. I am afraid to mess with the original file. This happen once before and I tried to rename it and I had to reenter several days worth of work. The registry has to have some kind of code that is pointing to a database in virtual memory. I have went into the director and deleted what was in the VirtualStore, deleted all unnecessary files in the application. I just have not changed the database. If I open it with the original file everything is there. If I make a copy, no matter how, everything is weeks old. I hope someone can help. It is not urgent, but I have to have a reliable backup.

Okay, the process monitor will tell me what database is being used. But, that is actually no help. What I need to know is how to copy the mdb file and keep the old data. I am sure that there is something keeping the old database intact, even though I am deleting it. I can delete the database from my desktop, empty the recycle bin, clean the hard drive, go copy and paste the old data (it does not matter if I email it, transfer it over the network, put it on a memory stick or whatever, I still get old data.

So, I am assuming the problem lies with how the laptop is copying the database.

Okay, I filtered it out. Now how do I find my problem? How can I tell what to do? Is there a way to see if it is pointing to the “old data” or a “ghost database”. It does not matter if I delete every .mdb file on this computer, when I copy the backup to this computer it still gives me old data. I guess I need some kind of tutorial.
Thanks for your help.

Yes, but I guess I don’t know what I am looking for.