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Dr_Snooze's avatar
Dr_Snooze
Brass Contributor
Mar 31, 2022

WIP blocks data connections between Excel and Access

Hi everyone,

 

I'm reposting this here from Microsoft Community. I hope that's not bad form. 

 

I'm trying to get WIP working, but am experiencing a lot of frustration. I have an Excel XLSX file that connects to an Access MDB database for updates. I do the update manually by opening the XLSX file and clicking Data -> Refresh All. Unfortunately, WIP blocks this connection, giving me this error:

 

[DataFormat.Error] The Microsoft Access database engine cannot open or write to the file. It is already opened exclusively by another user, or you need permission to view and write its data.

When I remove WIP, the connection works without issue. If I change the ownership of the MDB file to Personal, it also works without issue.

 

Both the XLSX and MDB files are on a single user's OneDrive. Both show Enterprise ownership. Both are available offline. I'm working on a fresh Windows 10 Hyper-V VM with all current updates and patches. Ditto for Excel and Access. The VM is cloud-managed by Intune. Excel has been added to the Protected Apps list via the Office-365-ProPlus AppLocker policy in the Intune "Recommended Apps" drop-down menu. Access has been added to the Exempt apps list as directed in this article.

Excel runs in Enterprise Context as an "Enlightened, Permissive" app. Access runs as "Exempt". Access has no problem opening this protected MDB, but Excel cannot.

 

I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks.

Intune
MEM
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
WIP
  • Moe_Kinani's avatar
    Moe_Kinani
    Bronze Contributor
    Apr 01, 2022
    Hi There,

    Does OneDrive show Personal under Task Manager -Details - Under Enterprise Context Column (Add the column if you don’t see it)?

    I remember I had to whitelist OneDrive, WinWord and Excel as a Desktop apps because it thinks Personal not Enterprise so you may have to whitelist manually.

    Moe

    • Dr_Snooze's avatar
      Dr_Snooze
      Brass Contributor
      Apr 05, 2022
      Well, OneDrive is showing Enlightened. But Access is running in Exempt context and Excel is running in Enlightened context. Do you suppose that mismatch is the problem? I tried setting the apps up individually previously, but that broke things in a different way and MSFT Support scolded me for it LOL. In this case, MSFT specifically recommends against adding Access as an Enlightened app, warning that it could cause data loss, so I don't really want to go that direction either. Not sure how to make this work.

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