How To Start The Workbench               

Once you have installed the software, you will need to start the program.  If you followed the standard prompts in the installation, you will find the software by choosing the Start button ... Programs ... vb123.com ... Access Workbench as shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1 - Starting the Access Workbench using the menus - Windows XP Shown

Another way to start the program will be to click on the Workbench icon on the quick launch menu that you will find on the windows task bar. In Figure 2, the work bench is the groovy little green icon with the yellow circle and the red swoosh.

Figure 2 - The first item on the quick launch menu is the Access Workbench.

If you use Windows Explore a lot, one good way to incorporate the Workbench into your database activities is to associate the program with your file types. The installation software does this for you by adding a new program to the shortcut menu that appears whenever you right click a database file (*.mdb, *.mda, *,mdw). This allows you to choose the Workbench rather than Microsoft Access itself (as shown in Figure 3).  This means that you can now easily switch between Access 97 and 2000/XP databases through the workbench. 


Figure 3 - Now you can easily open the Workbench and ask it to analyse that MDB file.

If you avoid this option when installing the software, Read more on associating The Workbench With File Types here.

The otherplace to start the Workbench is to use the icon that the installation software placed on the desktop as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 - The desktop icon to start the workbench.

The Locking Database Files (*.ldb)

Whenever you open an Access database, a locking database with a file type of LDB is created and the names of the computer and workgroup id are added to the file. When everyone logs out of the database, the file should be deleted. Therefore the presence of a .ldb file is a very good indicator that someone is using the database. As part of the workbench installation, you can now double click on the LDB file in Windows Explorer to open The Workbench and view who is using the related database. You can also right on the file and choose Open as shown in Figure 5. Note that Access does not provide any program association for the .ldb file so this does adds to the value of the file type rather than having it sitting in your directory doing nothing. Click here to read more about ldb files.

Figure 5 - The Workbench is associated with .ldb file types so you can quickly find out who is using open databases.

Command Line Switches

Once you become more familiar with the Workbench, you can open it using command line switches embedded in either Windows (desktop) shortcuts or in the Task Schedular that you will find in the Control Panel for Windows.. Read More 

Most Recently Used Form

You can find databases that you use regularly on your computer by using the Most Recently Used form. Read More...

Other Access Workbench Topics
Home Page | Open | Who's On | Compact | Backups | Options | Install  | FAQ Page  | Orders

 The Access Workbench Help File  - How To Start The Program