Copy of Access mdb database being updated by live database

I'm trying to compute statistics for data held in an Access .mdb database. In order to avoid interfering with the live database, I'm working from a copy which I made by simply using copy-paste in Windows Explorer. The copy resides in the same directory, but with a different name.

I'm using R and RODBC to connect to the copy of the file. The strange thing is that new data that is be开发者_如何学运维ing updated on the original live database is appearing in my queries. This is despite the file timestamps of the copy not changing at all. It is also causing some slowdown in the live database.

My understanding is that the .mdb files are standalone, or is this not the case? Should I have copied the database in a different way?

It seems that you may have copied the front-end of a front-end / back-end set up. The back-end is where data is held and tables are linked to a front-end to hold forms etc. Copying a front-end copies the back-end links, so the data is live.