Corrupted database (Access 2000)

Topic

New Reply

I have a customer who got a corrupted Access2000 database. The Compact and Repair Utility seemed to fix it, but we didn’t realize how pervasive the corruption was until later.

We still found corrupted records (null autonumbers) and missing records. We even lost the PrimaryKey index on a table, which then in turn blew away all the relationships!

I’m still trying to restore missing records. I’m just marching back thru the backups, trying to find one that isn’t corrupted. Already gone back 1 week, and no luck! Fortunately, they have an internet backup service, so there is no problem to find a copy that is good, eventually.

Anyway, has anyone ever seen corruption this bad? And if so, any idea how it occurred? They were using a Windows ME box as a “server”. It was plugged into a UPS. I persuaded them to get a real server, and a hardware guy I know put in a Linux box, which is inexpensive and seems to work fine. At least so far, so good! (typing with fingers crossed!)

Reply | Quote

Replies

I have been lucky, and haven’t seen many cases of corruption, but what I encountered fell under the following categories:
– A form became unusable, couldn’t be opened in either design view or form view. The rest of the database was intact. Importing the tables into a backup copy of the design version took care of it.
– A small number of records in one table was corrupt; Compact and Repair removed the corruption, but the records had to be reconstructed.
– The database became completely unusable, it couldn’t be opened any more, and none of the standard methods (decompile, JetComp) helped. Going back to an intact backup copy was the only remedy.
I haven’t seen what you describe…

Reply | Quote

I have been lucky, and haven’t seen many cases of corruption, but what I encountered fell under the following categories:
– A form became unusable, couldn’t be opened in either design view or form view. The rest of the database was intact. Importing the tables into a backup copy of the design version took care of it.
– A small number of records in one table was corrupt; Compact and Repair removed the corruption, but the records had to be reconstructed.
– The database became completely unusable, it couldn’t be opened any more, and none of the standard methods (decompile, JetComp) helped. Going back to an intact backup copy was the only remedy.
I haven’t seen what you describe…

Reply | Quote

Mark ~ was this a split DB, or was everything in one file?

Reply | Quote

Peter,

Splitting a database is so second-nature to me, that I forget to even mention it! The backend is on the server, each user has a local copy of the frontend.

Reply | Quote

Hi Mark

What were the symptom and/or error message you received prior to determining a corrupt database?

John

Reply | Quote

The first sympton I was told about was that a combo box in the initial sign-in screen didn’t have any names in the dropdown box. I had someone go directly into the backend, and got the “This database appears to be corrupted, do you want me to fix it” message. Subsequent to that, other things started happening, such as missing records and a query that was no longer updateable.

Reply | Quote

Hi Mark

I

Reply | Quote

The more I’ve learned, the more it appears to be related to the server. They were using a Windows ME machine as the “server”; which I wasn’t happy about right from the beginning. I’ve recently found out that there are known problems with this; apparently ME doesn’t play nice with other O/S versions. Anyway, they swapped out that server for a Linux server, and we haven’t had any problems since then. We’ve even increased the load on the server, as we’ve introduced a another Access database with new users.

Reply | Quote

The more I’ve learned, the more it appears to be related to the server. They were using a Windows ME machine as the “server”; which I wasn’t happy about right from the beginning. I’ve recently found out that there are known problems with this; apparently ME doesn’t play nice with other O/S versions. Anyway, they swapped out that server for a Linux server, and we haven’t had any problems since then. We’ve even increased the load on the server, as we’ve introduced a another Access database with new users.

Reply | Quote

Hi Mark

I

Reply | Quote

The first sympton I was told about was that a combo box in the initial sign-in screen didn’t have any names in the dropdown box. I had someone go directly into the backend, and got the “This database appears to be corrupted, do you want me to fix it” message. Subsequent to that, other things started happening, such as missing records and a query that was no longer updateable.

Reply | Quote

Hi Mark

What were the symptom and/or error message you received prior to determining a corrupt database?

John

Reply | Quote

Peter,

Splitting a database is so second-nature to me, that I forget to even mention it! The backend is on the server, each user has a local copy of the frontend.

Reply | Quote

Mark ~ was this a split DB, or was everything in one file?

Reply | Quote