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MS Access Development 

for 

VB .NET developers

No error message available, result code: DB_SEC_E_AUTH_FAILED(0x80040E4D).

No error message available, result code: DB_SEC_E_AUTH_FAILED(0x80040E4D).

👩‍💻Problem

No error message available, result code: DB_SEC_E_AUTH_FAILED(0x80040E4D).

💫Diagnose

This hex code (0x80040E4D) translates to: 

"Login failed. The user name or password is incorrect."

It is a security/authentication failure from the database provider, specifically when connecting to Microsoft Access (or SQL Server in some contexts), and it’s commonly thrown by the OleDbConnection.Open() method.

💽Cause

Your VB.Net project ConnectionString is invalid. There is something wrong in your code (i,.e : Provider Name, Database  Path, Database Name) but not before compiling. For Example if you change the database folder at Run-time.

🔬Solution

Store your ConnectionString in Settings (Project Properties->Settings). This will also keep you safe from ConnectionString Injections.

✅ Other Common Causes & Solutions

1. Wrong Password or No Password on a Password-Protected Access DB

If your .accdb or .mdb file is password-protected, you must supply the password in the connection string:

"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=yourfile.accdb;Jet OLEDB:Database Password=yourpassword;"

If you omit this and try to open the DB, you’ll get the DB_SEC_E_AUTH_FAILED error.

⚠️ For Access 2007+ (.accdb), the keyword Jet OLEDB:Database Password still works.

2. Supplying a Password When There Is None

If your Access file is not password-protected, but your connection string includes a Jet OLEDB:Database Password, it will also fail with this error.

✅ Fix

Remove the password clause from your connection string.

3. Using a Workgroup Security File (.mdw)

If the Access DB is secured using a workgroup security file, your connection string must include:

"Jet OLEDB:System Database=path-to.mdw"

...along with User ID and Password.

Example

  "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=yourfile.mdb;Jet OLEDB:System Database=system.mdw;User ID=admin;Password=;"

4. SQL Server Scenario

If you're using SQL Server via OleDb and encounter this, check for:

• Wrong username/password in the connection string.

• Trying to use Windows Authentication where the account has no access.

• Trying to use SQL Authentication with wrong credentials.

---

🔧 General Troubleshooting Tips

• Try opening the Access file manually in MS Access — does it prompt for a password?

• Use a connection string tester like https://www.connectionstrings.com for your exact case.

• Wrap your conn.Open() in a Try...Catch and inspect the exception:

  Try
  	conn.Open()
  Catch ex As OleDbException
    MessageBox.Show("Error: " & ex.Message)
  End Try

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