Microsoft released Office 2024, their latest Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) version. LTSC is the perpetual license of Office available as a one-time purchase rather than the subscription-based Office 365. Office 2024 succeeds Office 2021, the previous perpetual license version.
Microsoft confirmed the Microsoft Office security update released on Tuesday (December 14, 2021) causes Microsoft Access databases on shared drives to be locked after users exit the database. This prevents other users from opening the database and multiuser database sharing. Customers reported errors like:
Could not lock file (Error 3050)
Could not use 'Admin' (related to workgroup security)
This file is in use. Enter a new name or close the file that's open in another program.
Several issues appear to be happening:
The first person opening the database is successful but an exclusive lock is placed on the database preventing others from opening it.
The Access lock file (*.laccdb or *.ldb for ACCDB and MDB databases respectively) is not being deleted after the last person exits the database. This makes the database seem like it’s still being used.
This can also impact workgroup security files (*.mdw) that also have their *.ldb lock file.
From Microsoft:
This is due to the December 14, 2021 (Patch Tuesday) update to Office. The problem was introduced by a security fix, so it impacts all active versions of Access.
We are working on a fix, and will deliver it as quickly as
possible.
The update has only updated a small percentage of users, and we are pausing automatic updates.
This problem is even in the Semi-Annual Channel which is never supposed to include such poorly tested changes.
To avoid such problems, disable automatic updates. While this is a drastic step, Microsoft repeated failed to release stable updates thereby causing more problems than they fix.
Microsoft Office Update Version 2107 (Build 14228.20204) Breaks Applications using the Access Database Engine (ACE)
Background
Last week on Tuesday July 27th, Microsoft Office released version 2107 (Build 14228.20204) to Current Channel customers. It updates the Access Database Engine (ACE) ACEDAO.dll that supports connections to Access databases.
From Access, Account, next to the About Access button is your Version, Build and Channel
Problem
Unfortunately, this broke applications outside of Office such as Visual Studio and other programming platforms that rely on ACE to open Access databases. Programs include Microsoft programs such as PowerBI, SQL Server Management Assistant (SSMA), in addition to programs from other organizations that support Access databases. Errors like this appear:
The operating system is not presently configured to run this application
The error can be triggered in Visual Studio .NET with a single line of code that initializes the Access database engine: dbe = New DAO.DBEngine
The error occurs before opening any database because the core database engine fails. Even worse, having the code in a Try..Catch block doesn’t trigger the catch. It stays in an infinite loop requiring the need to close the application from the Windows Task Manager. Ugh!
Total Access Admin lets you monitor who’s connecting and disconnecting from Access databases across your network.
Our database administrator program, Total Visual Agent, automates Microsoft Access database tasks like nightly compacts.
They include EXE and DLL programs that run outside of Access and rely on ACE to support your databases. They may fail if Office/Access 365 is installed on the machine with Current Channel and ACE was updated.
This Happened Before
This is particularly disappointing because the same problem occurred in September 2020 when Office released version 2008 (Build 13127.20296). It was fixed when version 2009 (Build 13231.20262) was released.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a solution once this Office update is installed on a PC other than going back to a prior version. Visit Microsoft’s pages for instructions:
On the update history page, you can see the prior versions. Reverting back to the last Monthly Enterprise Channel version 2105 (Build 14026.20334) from July 13, 2021 works.
Change Your Update Channel
From experience, we can attest that using the Current Channel causes too much disruption. To eliminate the chance of this happening again on your PCs, you can turn off all updates, then manually update when you want:
From Access, Account, click the Update Options button and choose Disable Updates
The downside is this may leave your PC vulnerable to security problems that the updates address. It also prevents bug fixes and new features Microsoft adds to Office 365 over time. You’ll need to remember to come here and click Update Now periodically.
A set of Microsoft Office security updates released on November 12, 2019 causes Access databases to fail when it runs Update Queries to modify data. An error like this appears when the query is run:
Error 3340: “Query ‘qryName’ is corrupt”.
It doesn’t matter if the query is against a table in the current database, a linked table, or a linked SQL Server table. If the Access database engine is processing the UPDATE query, the error occurs.
In addition to Microsoft Access, other programs that update Access databases may also be affected. That includes Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc. and programs written in Visual Studio .NET, VB6, and web applications.
Types of Update Queries Affected
When attempting to run an Update query, it may fail with the error: “Query ‘query name’ is corrupt”. This occurs for an UPDATE query that:
Updates a single table (i.e. it updates a table, rather than the output of a Select query or join)
Specifies a WHERE clause (i.e. has entries in the Criteria row in the query designer)
These queries can be saved Access query objects or SQL strings executed in VBA code (or other languages that use ACE).
Security Updates Causing Query is Corrupt Error 3340
The issue was introduced on November 12, 2019 via the following patch updates for MSI builds:
Office 2010: Description of the security update for Office 2010: November 12, 2019 (KB4484127)
Office 2013: Description of the security update for Office 2013: November 12, 2019 (KB4484119)
Office 2016: Description of the security update for Office 2016: November 12, 2019 (KB4484113)
Office 2016: Update for Office 2016 – November 12, 2019 (KB3085368)
Microsoft announced they’ll fix this in the December update, but that’s way too long to wait. We hope Microsoft will respond more quickly. Until then, we found multiple solutions to address this issue.
Current Microsoft Fixes
Here are the current Microsoft fixes for the issue.
There is a December 10, 2019 security update for the MSI builds, that will be available via WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) and will be automatically applied that fixes the issue.
Access 2010: KB4484193 – Build 14.0.7243.5000
Access 2013: KB4484186 – Build 15.0.5197.1000
Access 2016: KB4484180 – Build 16.0.4939.1000
Note: If you try to apply the patch and you receive a message that says “No products affected by this package installed in the system”, this means you have a click-to-run (C2R) installation of Office, rather than an MSI installation.
Access 2010 MSI, Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable: Fixed Build 7241.5001 – November 27, 2019 This update is only available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center. To manually download the update, visit November 27, 2019, update for Office 2010 (KB2986256). Organizations that want to distribute the update without requiring each user to install manually, visit Distribute product updates for Office 2010 for more information.
Access 2010 C2R: Fixed Build 7243.5000 – December 10, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now].
Access 2013 MSI: Fixed Build 5189.1002 – November 27, 2019 This update is only available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center. The update can’t be installed on Office Home and Student 2013 RT. To manually download the update, visit November 27, 2019, update for Office 2013 (KB2965317). Organizations that want to distribute the update without requiring each user to install manually, visit Distribute updates for Office 2013 products for more information.
Access 2013 C2R: Fixed Build 5197.1000 – December 10, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now].
Access 2016 MSI, Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable: Fixed Build 4927.1002 – November 18, 2019 This update is only available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center. To manually download the update, visit November 18, 2019, update for Office 2016 (KB4484198).
Access 2019 Volume License: Fixed Build 10353.20037 – December 10, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now].
Access O365 Monthly Channel/Access 2016 C2R/Access 2019 (Version 1910): Fixed Build 12130.20390 – November 18, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now]. For more information on the update, visit Version 1910: November 18.
Access for Office 365 (Microsoft Store Version): Fixed Build 12130.20390 – November 22, 2019 Open Microsoft Store, Click on […] in the upper right corner, Choose [Downloads and Updates]
Access for O365 Semi-Annual (Version 1808): Fixed Build 10730.20422 – November 22, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now]. For more information on the update, visit Version 1808: November 22.
Access for O365 Semi-Annual (Version 1902): Fixed Build 11328.20480 – November 22, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now]. For more information on the update, visit Version 1902: November 22.
Access for O365 Semi-Annual (Version 1908): Fixed Build 11929.20494 – November 22, 2019 Open an Office program, select [File], click [Account], click [Update Options] and select [Update Now].
Solutions
Uninstall the Security Updates
The best way to fix the problem is to uninstall the Security update for Office which is the source of the problem. There are different steps depending on whether you are on an Office 365 subscription or not.
Modify All Your Update Queries
If your solutions are deployed to users where you cannot uninstall their Security Updates, you can modify your queries so they don’t trigger the problem. This can be done by adjusting the queries or replacing them with recordsets updated in code.
Rename each table and create a query selecting it with the original table name. Need to adjust table references.
Deploy your Access application with Access 2007 or earlier. You can download the free Access 2007 runtime from our site.
We are excited to announce the release of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2019! Total Access Analyzer examines all your database objects to provide extensive documentation, code analysis, object cross-reference, and diagrams with over 390 presentation-quality reports.It detects 300+ types of errors, suggestions, and performance tips, so you can learn and apply Best Practices to fix problems, improve your design, and speed up your Access applications.>New Features
Access Analyzer 2019 is an upgrade from the 2016 version and includes these enhancements:
Supports Microsoft Access 2019, 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
Document All Database types supported by Microsoft Access 2019.
Improved Blueprint Documentation.
Additional Cross-Reference and Validation including Subform References.
Improved Memory Management.
Data Macro Documentation.
Document Workgroup Security in ACCDBs.
Better Support of Documentation for Multiple Databases.
Module Bracket Reports.
Improved User Interface Shows more Progress Details.
Recently, Microsoft Access users are confronted with this error when they open their database on Windows 10 machines:
“Microsoft Access has detected that this database is in an inconsistent state, and will attempt to recover the database. During this process, a backup copy of the database will be made and all recovered objects will be placed in a new database. Access will then open the new database. The names of objects that were not successfully recovered will be logged in the ‘Recovery Errors’ table.”
This seems to be related to Microsoft security updates that were released over the past few months.Our investigations lead us to these two links:
