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Corrupt Access Database Recovery

Access databases are the most easily prone database to get corrupted. Generally an error occurs in the binary file format of any database which results into unusable database. The .mdb database corruption is very common, minor and generally unknown to the user. The user eventually comes to know about it when this corruption gets worse. The most common causes of access database corruptions are hardware failures, software crashes, JET software crash, multi-user access, inefficient database design, virus attacks, password protections, unexpected system shutdowns and power failures.

You can definitely prevent the access databases from being getting corrupted by following some simple measures;

Perform backup of the corrupt file as soon as possible before using any recovery utility on the damaged file.

Restore database from the previous backups - Regular backups should be performed of your database design and data in order to avoid the potential problems caused by database corruption.

Use of In-built Access 'Compact and Repair' feature - Like other MS Office (Word, Excel..) MS Access also has a useful in-built feature called "Compact and Repair". To access the feature;

1. Open the new database

Note: It is not necessary to open a new database, this feature can be accessed even if there is no database opened.

2. Click the Tools menu and select Database Utilities > Compact and Repair Database option.

3. The Database to Compact From dialogue box will be displayed, select the appropriate .mdb file and click the Compact button.

4. The corrupt Access database will be repaired.

Note: Be cautious while performing recovery through this method as this recovery procedure can at times make the case more worsened. Always take backup of the corrupt file before applying this method.

Use of MS Jet compact Utility

JetComp.exe has been developed to fix minor corruptions of the Access databases. This method of recovery is much secured than the in-built Compact and Repair feature of MS Access.

Import tables in new Database

You can create a new database and transfer all the data and table by implementing different methods:

1. Using the ‘Import Wizard' to transfer all table structures to new database.

2. Recreation of the table structures in the new database manually – through SQL and VB coding

Send the file to Access File Repair Company

If practice of all the above measures does not provides satisfactory results then you can send your file(s) to Access database repair company.