Scenario

There's spatial data you want in an "ESRI Personal Geodatabase" file, but you don't have any ESRI tools. How do you get it out?

One short answer
One how-to (steps verified on Windows Vista)

Explore the content with ogrinfo
C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>ogrinfo ItAntMapping.mdb
INFO: Open of `ItAntMapping.mdb'
using driver `PGeo' successful.
1: whollyimprecise
2: placesAdded
3: placesEstimated
4: placesSolid
5: stretchesDangling
6: stretchesFloating
7: stretchesSolid
8: tpPoints
9: stretchesUnlocated
Extract a layer to an ESRI shapefile
C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" itant-solidplaces.shp I
tAntMapping.mdb placesSolid
Verify results
C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>dir itant-solidplaces.*
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 2C47-654D

Directory of C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins

01/31/2008 04:00 PM 1,141,669 itant-solidplaces.dbf
01/31/2008 04:00 PM 147 itant-solidplaces.prj
01/31/2008 04:00 PM 85,780 itant-solidplaces.shp
01/31/2008 04:00 PM 24,580 itant-solidplaces.shx
4 File(s) 1,252,176 bytes
0 Dir(s) 172,586,586,112 bytes free
Coming soon

A sequel, wherein we write a python script to automate the extraction of multiple feature classes (layers, themes) with different geometries from a single geodatabase file to multiple shapefiles.

Thanks

Sean and Howard.