Thank you CABC for responding.
I've checked the shares in MMC on the server and have found that none of them are locked. The thing is, this happens for all of our address books. If any user is logged into the server (meaning the Pervasive engine has pre-loaded), then all address books can be opened from client machines. If the server is logged off (meaning I suppose that the Pervasive engine has not been loaded on the server) then none of the address books can be opened and all client machines get the above "waiting..." message.
I could certainly recreate the address books, but these are newly created (we're deploying the app for thet first time now).
For the time being, I must leave the server logged on if there is to be any use of Maximizer by client machines. If I attempt to logoff the server while a client is making use of Maximizer, I get a "Remote application connected to the Pervasive database...if you continue shutting down, applications will fail...".
You mentioned that it's not supported to run the engine as a service...is it possible in any way for it to load & remain loaded regardless of logons/logoffs at the console?
How do most people handle this?
Thanks again.