Windows 2000 Professional (and beyond) ODBC Issue
Why does it give the error message "Invalid user name and password" when a student tries to log on? (but doesn't give the error when I'm logged in as an administrator)
This is due to the increased security measures implemented within the Windows 2000 operating system (and beyond).
Currently there is only one safe method of increasing the user rights - which has to be done on every workstation.
To Identify the Problem
First of all you need to log into the computer using an administrative profile and see if you can access the database.
The best way to do this is to log into the software "
With Assessment", then click on to "
Business Interactive". Click on "
System Administrator", then click onto "
Groups". If you can see '10XP' listed on the screen (this is pre-created group that comes with the installation) then the database is visible. However if you just see a blank grey box, then the database is not visible to the software.
If you cannot see the database, then you need to check your network parameters to see if your rights have been restricted.
If your network parameters are OK, then check if the DSN file points to the correct database.
Click Here to find out more.
If you can see the database then this means that you need to increase the rights of the students.
To Fix
Once the software is installed, on every workstation that the software is going to be used on, you will need to make a small change to the registry.
This can be done by:
1) Log in to the machine using an Administrator profile
2) Click on "Start", and then select "Run".
3) Type "Regedt32" and click enter. This will launch the Registry Editor.
4) Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window
5) Double click on "SOFTWARE"
6) Scroll down and highlight ODBC
7) Select "Security" from the toolbar and from the drop down menu click on permissions.*
8) Highlight the "Users" on the machine and enable the users to have "Full Control" by putting a tick in the box
9) Hit the apply button and close the Permissions box
10) Close the Registry Editor and log out
11) Log in as a normal user and start using Business Interactive
* In Windows XP, this can be found by right clicking on ODBC and select permissions.
Please make sure that the students do have read and write access to the database (biunit1.mdb).
Example
Here the regedt32 has been opened. ODBC has been selected from the list of software, and the permissions for the local machine (ZESHAN) has been increased to give all users Full Control:
Security Issues
You may be concerned that by giving full control of ODBC commands to the students they will be able to wreak havoc on the network. This will not be the case, since these permissions are given to users as default in Windows 98 and they only enable the users to communicate with Access databases using SQL commands.
In terms of network policy, any increased rights that you may bestow upon your users that you believe to be dangerous to do would be best kept secret and not mentioned in front of the users if the matter needs to be discussed.
The First Solution
This solution was suggested as soon as this problem was identified, however, it was rejected at the time by a System Administrator believing that this will allow the students to destroy the network/workstations. This solution has recently been suggested by a MCT and a MCSE as a means to provide a solution that will neglect the need to edit the registry.
1) Create a global group on the server according to your domain model e.g.. bizstudents
2) Add required students to this global group (i.e. only the students studying business)
Login to a workstation as a domain administrator and....
3) Add the global group (bizstudents) to the local Power Users group on each workstation that will use the Business Interactive software.
The MCT stated that the Systems Administrator should have no problems adding students to the local Power Users group as long as they have already locked their network down properly. Again it is also a case of information security - you do not tell the students that are Power Users on a particular machine.
Experimental Fix: Using Registry Scripts
This solution is only to be used if you feel that editing the registry on every machine is too cumbersome and are confident in using Regini.exe (provided with the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit).
This procedure has not been tested; since using Regini is usually done when a network is initially setup and most network administrators are reluctant to make use of this utility.
This fix has been adapted from official Microsoft documentation:
support.microsoft.com/?kbid=237607
This guide should help you to distribute the change:
Please read the individual workstation method to understand what you are trying to achieve. (above)
The suggested script that you need to include is:
\registry\machine\software\ODBC [1 5 7 17]
This is a procedure that could have unforeseen circumstances, and Interactive Learning Ltd accepts no liability for any damage that may or may not be inflicted by running this fix.
Return to Knowledgebase
