Access Files Located on an “Untrusted Site”
If you recently installed Internet Explorer 7 you may have started seeing the following error message when opening up Microsoft Access files:
“Microsoft Access cannot open this file. This file is located outside of your intranet or on an untrusted site.”
You can make this go away by opening up IE 7 and going to “Internet Options” under the “Tools” menu. Go to the “Security” tab and select “Local Intranet” then hit the “Sites” button. Uncheck the box marked “Automatically detect intranet network.” Apply the new settings and your Access database should open without problems.
This doesn’t work in my case. Here’s what I posted on dbforums:
I’m setting up a small network at work, have a Windows Server 2003 server as a file server and a number of PCs which map a drive to a folder there. I did a full Windows Update on the user PCs, which installed SP2, Internet Explorer 7, and more.
When I try to run a .mdb that resides on the server, I get, as described above:
Microsoft Access cannot open this file.
This file is located outside your intranet or on an untrusted site. Microsoft
Access will not open the file due to potential security problems.
To open the file, copy it to your computer or an accessible network location.
I don’t get the checkbox in the properties, as described. Also, I tried a lot of combinations of things in Internet Options’ Local Intranet and Trusted Sites to no avail.
So, I tried uninstalling IE7 and it’s 2 updates (KB931768 and KB928090), which took 3 restarts, thank you Microsoft, and then I could open the .mdb and got no error messages.
Only problem now is I can’t do Automatic Updates any more because it automatically re-installs IE7. I have to do custom update and avoid doing IE7 and it’s updates.
Seems like Microsoft really screwed up on this one. All the verbage about web sites when I’m only dealing with files! Really poor if you ask me.
Comment by Mark — May 15, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Just had the same problem today and found the simple answer here:
http://mcobit.business.nd.edu/kb/kb.cfm?Action=questiononly&qid=425
It is a security thing for Win XP that is controlled through IE.
Comment by She.Rex — May 17, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
Just to be clear – the drive I needed was mapped to the letter O, so after unchecking the box at the bottom, I typed O:\ and the name of the folder I needed. In the box below appeared the actual location of the drive over the network. No fancy drive names with lots of backslahes needed.
Hope this is helpful.
Comment by She.Rex — May 17, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
Hi! Yep, I used to have this error all the time! So annoying!!! uf.
Comment by liliann — October 30, 2007 @ 7:50 am
We got this message all the time and we even hired a local computer tech who is in the business to solve this problem for us and after 4 hours at $70.00 per hour the problem was still there.
I followed your instructions and we are now able to open all access databases on all computers on our network.
Thanks
Comment by Ron — November 13, 2007 @ 10:51 am
The suggestions above didn’t work for me – but this did:
Navigate to where you have saved the file on your machine. Right Click the .mdb file and select properties. Near the bottom of the window click on UNBLOCK. It was like magic!
Comment by Debbie — January 16, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
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Pingback by Search Ranking for Tech Support & Error Message Search Queries — January 24, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Debbie is a jewel… thanks
Comment by Sherk — February 25, 2008 @ 8:51 pm
Registering the IP address in IE security intranet sites did not work for a connection through a VPN. The IP address was registered in the intranet sites for IE security but the error persisted when trying to open the Access database via a mapped drive in Explorer. Thoughts?
Comment by Joe — May 20, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Solved my own issue. I am using Office XP so by adding a line to the Windows HOSTS file of my computer, I could create an alias for the IP address and the issue disappeared. I mapped to the alias in Explorer where Access now recognizes the path as a trusted intranet site, no entries needed in IE for trusted sites.
Comment by Joe — May 20, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
I get this error opening locally, even after setting intranet to LOW
Comment by Tim — August 28, 2008 @ 3:04 pm
I had same issues… the fix was a combo of the “HOSTS” file, mapping the alias and settings in IE. What a pain in the @#$
Comment by KMH — October 5, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Thank you so much! This did work for me. I’ve been through so many web sites, including Microsoft, and couldn’t find anything that would help me until I came across this page in google.
Thank you, thank you!
Comment by Paula — February 21, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
OMG this worked for me.
Thanks a ton !
Pure Genius.
Comment by ATickedOff AccessUser — May 3, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
I have just followed your instructions with Internet Explorer 8. It fixed the problem. I have been waiting for about 8 months for an internet technician to visit as I work in a rural country town. I just googled “untrusted site” and this page was the first on the list. You have saved me probably $300 in travel and labour to pay the guy that may not have know what to do anyway. Thank you so much!
Comment by Tim — May 11, 2009 @ 10:54 pm
The first solution I tried was a great help. It took me 5 minutes using the trusted site option when I’ve had engineers working on this problem for a few hours.
Thanks
Comment by Dean Fernandes — June 11, 2009 @ 12:28 am
This I had the DB issue raised in this thread and the info suggested by: She.Rex — May 17, 2007 @ 2:25 pm wooked a treat- thanks for sharing!
Comment by Marco — August 23, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
I got this same error on Windows Vista. Vista automatically blocked my mdb file because it came from another computer. I just opened up the file properties, and told it to unblock it.
All the recommended changes with IE hadn’t worked.
Comment by Alfred — September 2, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
We’ve been trying this with a mapped share and nothing has worked. Finally, looking at My Network Places, the share shows up and Access is happy to open the files on it. The same files on a mapped drive, won’t open and give the error about being located outside. . . .
Comment by Lynne — September 14, 2009 @ 4:01 pm
I finally fixed it with these suggestions. I went to IE options Security, Local Intranet, sites then added the path to the Access file. Opened the Access file right away. I have done it on 3 computers and it works on all three. Thanks for the steps to take me to the solution.
Comment by jay moore — September 28, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
salam
Comment by noshin — January 2, 2010 @ 12:39 am
Thanks a million! What a pain! I fixed it by going into IE8, Tools -> Internet Options -> Security -> Local Intranet -> Sites -> (unchecked all boxes) -> Advanced -> (typed in the drive letter of my network that is mapped to the whole network N:\) -> Add -> Close -> Ok -> Ok.
Awesome :)
Comment by Pep — February 16, 2010 @ 5:35 pm