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Hide Folder By Richard Rost 
4 years ago
Hide Your Microsoft Access Back-End Folder One of the biggest security problems that developers of shared, split Microsoft Access databases face is that in order to give people access to work with the database, those people have to have full read/write access to the back-end folder. This is a security nightmare. A disgruntled employee could just delete the back-end file completely. Sure, you can restore from last night's backup, but how much data might you lose in the mean time? Or they could download the entire back-end file and steal your valuable data. For the longest time, the only sure-fire recommendation I could give my students was to upgrade to SQL Server if you need that kind of security for your back-end file. Well now I've come across a new solution that you can use to completely hide the back-end folder from Windows. Access can still use the files in that folder, but nobody can browse and see it. Hide FoldersSuggested Course
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IntroIn this video, I will show you how to use the Hide Folders tool from FS Pro Labs to hide your Microsoft Access back end database folder from users on your network while still allowing Access to use it. We will talk about the common security problems of sharing a split Access database across a network, walk through installing and setting up Hide Folders on your server, and see how this prevents users from seeing or accessing the back end folder in Windows File Explorer. You'll also get tips for securing your front end database and advice for using this method with Access Database Cloud.TranscriptWelcome to another Fast Tips video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.In today's video, I'm going to show you how to deal with a problem that lots and lots of Access users have if you're sharing a database on a network. I'm going to show you how to hide your Access back end folder from prying eyes. Here's the problem. You've got your database set up on a network. You've got a server, whether it's a Windows server or just a PC running Windows, whatever. You've got a shared folder that your split database back end file is in. The problem is that everyone can see that back end folder. In order for Access to use the database and access those tables, everyone's got to have read/write access to that folder, which leads to some problems. If you can't trust everyone on your network, someone could delete that file. They could download a copy of it. They could do whatever they wanted to it. One of the problems with Access is that it doesn't have that kind of security built in. If you need that kind of security, Microsoft wants you to upgrade to SQL Server. However, that's beyond the budget of a lot of small businesses. There is, however, a solution that I recently came across. It's a program called Hide Folders from FS Pro Labs. You can hide the folder that your database is sitting in, your back end folder. It'll hide it from Windows File Explorer so people that are browsing along the network won't see it, but Access can still get a hold of that folder and use it. You can put your back end file there safely. As long as you use a folder name that people can't easily guess and you take some security precautions on your front end file, you should be pretty secure. The first thing you're going to do is go to your server computer, whatever machine your actual database back end file is sitting on. You're going to download and install Hide Folders by FS Pro Labs. There's a link right there. I'll also put a link down below in the description below the video that you can click on. It'll take you right there. It is free for 30 days, so you can install it and try it and make sure it works for you. Beyond that, it's 39.95 to buy it. Of course, it's currently March of 2022. If you're watching this in the future, this may have changed, but as of right now, those are their terms. Now, full disclosure, I did sign up for their affiliate program for recommending people to their software. However, I endorse very few products and this is one that I love. I just came across this, so I do recommend it. I did sign up as an affiliate. I will get a small commission if you decide to purchase it. Yay me. But anyways, let me show you how to set it up and how it works. Before we get started, if you've never split a database before and set it up on a network, so you've got a front end and a back end, your front end has all your forms and your queries and all that stuff on it and that's what the users get. Your back end goes up on the server and that's what has all the tables in it. If you've never done that before, go watch my split database video right now before you watch the rest of this. Here I am on my workstation PC. This is where I do all my development work. I got a copy of my TechHelp database right there. That is a single database file. It's got everything in it. I'm going to split it in just a minute. Over here is my server folder. My server machine is mapped to a Z drive. I usually use a mapped drive letter on all the different machines. I think it's easier. I'm in a folder called "test database folder." That's where we're going to put this guy and then we're going to hide that on the server. First, let's split this guy. Let's open this up and then we'll go to Database Tools - Move to Access Database, and split it. Where are you going to go? We're going to drop it on the Z drive in my test database folder, and then hit split. There it goes. Database successfully split. Now you can see over here, all these tables are now linked. You have to make sure when you distribute your front end that you turn off the navigation pane. I'll talk about this more toward the end of the video. Notice here, if I hover over these, I can see exactly where that's located: Z test database folder, techhelpbackend.accdb. You don't want your users knowing where these are located. Anyways, let's close this. Here's my front end. There's my back end. Now let's go over to the server and hide this folder. I'm going to close this right here for now. Here I am over on the server. This is the server machine. It's a Windows 10 machine running the database, and that's how a lot of companies are set up. This also works on Windows server. Now on my server, I also have a Z drive mapped, but what you want to do is you want to find the actual physical drive that has your database in it. So in this case, it's C:\\database. There's my folder right there. You have to hide it on your local drive. You can't hide the mapped drive. This is actually C:\\database\\test database folder. Go over to Hide Folders. We're going to go to Add. We're going to browse right here. Go to This PC, then C: (Local disk), and then Database. There it is right there, my test database folder. Hit OK. Now down here, there's a bunch of options. What you want is Hide. There's Hide and then there's Hide and Lock. If you lock it, then Access can't read/write it and can't use it. So you just want to pick Hide. That way Access and other applications can read and write to this folder, but the user won't see it. That's what's important. So hit OK. Once you do that, look over here. It disappeared. It's gone. It's still there, and Access will still use it, but it doesn't show up if your users browse to that folder. What you want to do is pick a name too. For example, you can make this something like "mydatabase165ZElementalP." Use a name that your user won't guess. Now let's switch back over to the workstation PC and see if I can see that folder. I'm back over on the workstation now. Let's go to the database folder Z. Look at that. It's not there. That folder that we hid is gone. I just tested it. Even if the user does type in Z:\\test database folder and press Enter, Windows won't browse to it. Your applications will still use it, but you can't browse to it in Windows File Explorer. Now let's see if Access can still open up that linked database. Look at that. There we go. It's still able to work with it, but you can't browse to it, which is cool. Keep in mind, they can still see what this is. If you get a user on your network who's a real computer guy and decides he wants to mess with this, yes, you can use other applications to read, write, or delete files. You just can't use Windows File Explorer. But Access can get ahold of this. So what you want to do, first of all, is hide your navigation pane. I have a whole other video showing you how to do this stuff, so I'm not going to go through it here again. I'll give you some links. We started off with the split database video. Go watch that if you don't know how to split a database. My simple security video will show you how to do things like turn off the navigation pane, disable the ribbon, and stuff like that. I'll also show you how to encrypt the front end file so the user can't get in there and play with your forms and stuff. One way to keep people out of your database is to use the runtime version. If you have people on your network that just have to use the database, but they don't need to develop in the database, work on forms, reports, and so on, install the runtime version on their computer. It's much less likely for them to go in there and mess with stuff. If you really want to learn how to lock down your database, check out my security seminar. I cover all kinds of different ways to lock down your database. We go through setting up security inside the database with user logons. You can control what users have access to what forms or reports. You can create a detailed log of who does what inside the database. Of course, I show you how to fully lock down your front end. With a little bit of VBA code, we can make it so that the navigation pane is completely hidden, the ribbon is gone, and your users cannot possibly get that back, even if they download your file. If you're super concerned about security, you can actually delete the tables in your front end, distribute it to your users, and then in your VB code, you can manually link to those tables as the user needs them so that path doesn't even get stored in the front end. I cover that in the extended cut for members from my relink tables video. Before I go, I also want to mention for those of you using Access Database Cloud, which is a service to let you share your Access database online over the internet with anybody anywhere, and it's super easy to use. Hide Folders also works wonderfully here. This way you can hide your shared folder or a subfolder of the shared folder if you still want to use the shared folder for more documents or whatever, but you can hide your database folder. That way, the other users on your cloud PC won't know where the back end file is. So again, go and install Hide Folders. I'm going to open File Explorer and go into my shared folder on the C drive. Now, I have a database that I've split into this "database82736142" folder. There's my back end. Each user gets their own copy on the front end, but this is what I want to hide. Open up Hide Folders, go to Edit List, Add. I'm going to browse This PC, C drive, shared folder. There's my database folder. Hit OK, pick Hide, and then hit OK again. As soon as you do that, that folder should disappear. You can close this now and open up your database and notice that it still works. If you log on to any other cloud PC accounts that you have, you'll notice that the database folder is gone, but you've already linked the front end to it so it should work just fine. Thanks to Joe Richardson, founder and CEO of Access Database Cloud. I was exploring using his service because I want to offer it to all of you. I just mentioned to him, is there any way that we could hide that shared folder, and he's like, yeah, he found FS Pro for me. I've been doing this for almost 30 years and I never knew you could hide a folder like that. So thanks a lot, Joe. If you want to check out Access Database Cloud, there's a link right there. I've got a whole video series on how to use it on my website. That to me is one of the most useful Fast Tips videos that I've done. It wasn't exactly fast. I try to keep these like three or four minutes. This one's about 12 minutes so far. But if you want to be able to hide and secure that back end folder without having to upgrade to SQL Server, I'm telling you, it's the best $39 you'll spend. I hope you enjoyed and we'll see you next time. QuizQ1. What is the main problem discussed in the video regarding sharing a Microsoft Access database on a network?A. The front end of the database gets corrupted easily B. The back end folder is visible and accessible to everyone on the network C. Access cannot connect to the network D. Microsoft requires SQL Server for all shared databases Q2. Why is simply limiting folder permissions not a viable solution for Access databases shared on a network? A. Access requires exclusive access to the folder B. All users need read/write access for the database to function properly C. Users only need read access D. Only server administrators need access Q3. What solution does the video recommend for hiding your Access back end folder from users? A. Rename the folder each time you log out B. Use Microsoft SQL Server C. Use a program called Hide Folders by FS Pro Labs D. Store the back end file on a USB stick Q4. What does the "Hide" option in Hide Folders do? A. Prevents any application from seeing the folder B. Lifts all restrictions to the folder C. Hides the folder from Windows File Explorer but allows Access to use it D. Encrypts the folder contents Q5. Why should you not use the "Lock" option in Hide Folders for your Access backend folder? A. It makes the database file read-only B. Access cannot read/write to a locked folder C. It permanently deletes the folder D. It allows everyone to see the folder Q6. What is a recommended practice when naming the folder that contains your Access back end file? A. Name it "AccessData" B. Give it a name that is difficult for users to guess C. Use your company name D. Name it "Database" Q7. After hiding the back end folder, can Access still link to and use the tables in that folder? A. No, Access loses all connections B. Yes, Access can still use the tables C. Only if you move the database to the cloud D. Only after you restart the server Q8. What security suggestion does the video make for distributing the front end to users? A. Ensure users have full admin rights B. Leave the navigation pane enabled C. Turn off the navigation pane and disable the ribbon D. Store a copy of the back end with every user's front end Q9. What is a benefit of using the Access runtime version for end users? A. It gives users more customization features B. It allows users to edit the forms and reports C. It restricts users from making design changes D. It completely hides the database file Q10. In addition to hiding the folder, what advanced technique was mentioned for maximizing security? A. Store all files in OneDrive B. Delete the tables in the front end and relink them via VBA as needed C. Use simple file passwords D. Use encrypted USB drives for distribution Q11. How does Hide Folders help users of Access Database Cloud services? A. It hides all files on the cloud PC B. It hides the shared database folder so other cloud PC users cannot see it C. It encrypts the entire cloud account D. It moves the backend file off the server Q12. What would you need to do if a user tries to access the hidden folder directly via Windows File Explorer? A. The folder will appear automatically B. They can browse to it only if they have admin rights C. The folder will not appear and cannot be accessed via Windows File Explorer D. The folder will open but show as empty Answers: 1-B; 2-B; 3-C; 4-C; 5-B; 6-B; 7-B; 8-C; 9-C; 10-B; 11-B; 12-C DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks. SummaryToday's video from Access Learning Zone tackles a common issue that many Access users face when sharing a database on a network: how to keep your back end folder out of sight from other users.Let me set up the scenario. When you split an Access database for multi-user access, you typically store the back end file with your tables on a networked server. The problem here is that everyone with access to that shared folder can see the back end, and by necessity, users need both read and write permissions to interact with the data. Unfortunately, Access does not provide granular security for these files, and Microsoft essentially nudges those seeking stronger protection towards SQL Server, which can be a costly upgrade, especially for small businesses. Recently, I found a tool called Hide Folders by FS Pro Labs that addresses this security gap. With this program, you can hide your back end folder from Windows File Explorer, making it invisible to users browsing the network, but still fully accessible by Access itself. The trick is to choose a folder name that is not easily guessed, and to couple this strategy with a few other best practices for distributing your front end file. Getting started is straightforward. On the server that stores your Access back end, download and install Hide Folders. It's free to try for 30 days, with a one-time cost to purchase a license after that. Although I've signed up as an affiliate for the company, I only endorse products I believe in and find genuinely useful. This one fits that bill. If you're new to splitting Access databases, you need to understand the basics: your front end file contains all forms, queries, and design elements and is distributed to end users, while the back end (with the tables) remains on the server. If you need help with this process, I've got a separate video covering database splitting that you should watch before proceeding. Once your database is split and the back end is in place, the process is as follows: on your server, locate the actual physical drive where the back end folder sits. Concealing the folder from a mapped drive letter will not work; you must operate directly from the local drive (for instance, C:\\database). Use Hide Folders to add your back end folder to its list and select the "Hide" option. This makes the folder invisible in Windows File Explorer, but does not lock it, so Access can still interact with the files as usual. Choosing an obscure folder name, something hard to guess, adds another layer of security. With the folder hidden, even if users are savvy enough to try typing the folder's path manually, they will not be able to navigate to it via File Explorer. The front end applications will continue to function as long as they're properly linked. Keep in mind, though, this is not an impenetrable solution. Someone with advanced technical skills could still find ways to access the folder using specialized software or command line utilities, but it will block casual browsing and discourage most users from snooping around. To add more protection, hide the navigation pane in your front end Access app, disable the ribbon, and consider encrypting the front end file. I have other videos that detail these steps as well. If your end users only need to use the database and not modify any forms, reports, or designs, consider installing the Access Runtime Edition on their computers. This makes it harder for them to tamper with your database setup. For those wanting comprehensive security, my full Access Security Seminar will walk you through multiple levels of protection, including user logons, form/report access controls, maintaining activity logs, and thoroughly locking down the front end using VBA to ensure users cannot re-enable navigation or design tools. As an advanced option, it's even possible to remove the links to the tables from the distributed front end entirely. You can then use VBA to dynamically reconnect to the tables as they are needed. This way, the connection path does not remain stored in the front end. I explain this in detail in the extended cut for members from my video on relinking tables. This solution works for Access Database Cloud users as well, which lets you run your Access databases online via a cloud-based Windows desktop. Hide Folders allows you to keep your shared folder (or a subfolder that stores your data) concealed on the cloud PC, ensuring that others sharing the environment cannot discover the back end location, while your database continues functioning without interruption. I want to thank Joe Richardson, CEO of Access Database Cloud, for pointing me toward FS Pro Labs' Hide Folders. Despite my many years working with Access, I did not realize this functionality was possible. In summary, Hide Folders by FS Pro Labs offers an affordable option to keep your Access back end secure and out of sight, without having to move to a more expensive platform like SQL Server. I consider this a must-have if you want an extra layer of protection for your data files on a shared network. You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListExplaining the risks of exposing Access back end foldersIntroduction to Hide Folders by FS Pro Labs Downloading and installing Hide Folders Using Hide Folders to hide a database folder Choosing a secure folder name Splitting an Access database into front end and back end Mapping network drives for database storage Hiding the back end folder on the server's local drive Difference between Hide and Hide and Lock options Verifying hidden folders from a workstation Testing Access connectivity to the hidden folder Limitations of hiding folders with this method Recommendations for extra front end security steps Compatibility of Hide Folders with Access Database Cloud |
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