Hi Richard - Need your expert advice please.  
Background:
Our database runs on a network.  Each user has a copy of the compiled program on their local hard drive. When the users logs into the network, a batch program checks to see if the user has the most recent version of the compiled ACCESS program.  If not, it downloads it from the network to the C drive.  Pretty cool.  :)   The backend data files are on the network.  
Question:
When I upgrade the program, everyone has to log out.  Recently someone logged back in right in the middle of an upgrade -- which caused difficulties.  Is there a way to exclusively lock out the BACKEND while upgrading and then unlock it when done?  What would you recommend?  Thanks in advance for your help.

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Reply from Richard Rost:

Doing this on a database level would be unreliable. What I would do is manage this with simple text files. Make yourself a STATUS.INI file that you can put in the database folder with one line in it:

LOCKED:YES

Now the first thing any front-end database can do before it even loads any forms up is read in this file and check the status. If it's locked, pop up a message or just exit completely.

When you're done with your updates, just say "LOCKED:NO" and save the file.

Or... if you don't want to work with text files, you could make a simple table in your back-end that has a single Locked y/n field. Make the front end check that first. This opens up the problem of potential record locking issues... BUT... if it's only this one table it shouldn't be an issue since the front-ends are only reading a single value and closing.