Why is the Microsoft Office Access Database Engine data source looking for a workgroup information file?

Question

While trying to import to MSSQL2012 from SSDT using the wizard from an Access 2013 DB (.accdb) which is password protected, I get the following error with the username blank and the password field correctly populated: 
Cannot start your application. The workgroup information file is missing or opened exclusively by another user. (MicrosoftOffice Access Database Engine)
But according to this link:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/what-happened-to-user-level-security-HA010342116.aspx
MSA10 and beyond shouldn't need workgroup information files, although it's not clear to me if they are
created/used or not.
I can point the wizard to some local version of system.mdw at Advanced -> All -> Jet OLEDB:System Database, and then the error becomes:
Not a valid account name or password. (Microsoft Office Access Database Engine)
for any username I can think of.
Questions:
1.  Why does this data source insist on looking for a workgroup information file even though user-level security should be disabled?
2.  Why does the Open dialog box for the Microsoft Access Database Engine have *.mdb as the only selectable filetype?
3.  How can I get around these errors for an .accdb that is password protected?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi JordanPG,
To connect to Access 2007 or later database, we need the Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB driver. SQL Server only installs the Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB driver which can be used to connect to Access 2003 or earlier database. Besides, the Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB
driver only has 32-bit version, but the Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB driver has both 32-bit and 64-bit version. However, the 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB drivers cannot be installed on a single server.
According to your description, you can use the 64-bit SQL Server Import and Export Wizard to load data from the Access database, so the 64-bit Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB driver is installed on your computer. Since the BIDS/SSDT is a 32-bit application, the
64-bit Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB Provider is not visible in BIDS/SSDT. So, when you said that you select “Microsoft Access (Microsoft Access Database Engine)" in the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard (it is actually the 32-bit version) started by the SSDT,
I think it should be “Microsoft Access (Microsoft Jet Database Engine)”. Because the Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB driver only supports Access 2003 or earlier format, it threw the error “Test connection failed because of an error in initializing provider. Unrecognized
database format 'C:\myDB.accdb'”.
In this situation, you have two approaches to avoid this issue:
Launch the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard (64-bit), and select “Save SSIS Package” to “File System” on the “Save and Run Package” page. Then, the package will be saved to a specified directory. After that, you can add this existing package to a SSIS
project. The status of the corresponding OLE DB Connection Manager should be Work Offline, or the OLE DB Source will throw an error about 32-bit driver if the Connection Manager is not in Work Offline status, you can ignore that and the package can run successfully
in SSDT as long as the project is set to run in 64-bit runtime mode.
However, for the SSDT 2012 integrated with Visual Studio 2012, the 64-bit runtime mode is disabled. In this situation, to run the package in SSDT, you have to uninstall the 64-bit Microsoft ACE 12.0 OLE DB drivers and install the 32-bit one. Here is the
download link:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=13255 
Regards,
Mike Yin
TechNet Community Support