Microsoft Access application is one of the most commonly used database application in the world and it stores information like tables, queries and indexes in MDB files. The MDB files which stores the information is vulnerable to various errors and corruption which can render the data unusable. It is therefore necessary to detect corrupt items and take appropriate actions to recover MDB files.
There are various symptoms that may occur while opening items stored in the Access database, which may help to determine if the items are corrupt or not. When you try to open a particular file in Access which is corrupt you will get various kinds of error like ‘#Deleted’ appearing in certain records. Besides this you may also encounter errors like:
“Invalid field data type” – 3259
“Unexpected Error 35012”
There are various other types of errors that you may encounter while opening a corrupt database file. If such error keeps on occurring you may need to use an updated copy of the backup file that you have created to replace the data. However, if you have not created any backup for your files you need to first recover MDB files with the help of the free integrated “Compact and Repair” utility provided by Microsoft.
Another key point to remember here is to keep the MDB files undersized, as an oversized file can slow down Access application and render the data corrupt. In most of the cases the size of the MDB files go un-noticed and employees keep on stacking more and more data into the files. If the file size exceeds beyond the capacity Access will begin to show unusual errors while opening certain items. If this continues to occur in other files, you can be sure of that the database have gone corrupt and you will need to use the “Compact and Repair” tool to recover MDB files.
The “Compact and Repair” tool is the best free tool provided by Microsoft to compact and restore corrupt data. This should be the first step you should take in case your MDB files go corrupt. It is effective in recovering items like tables, queries, and the indexes in databases but is unable to recover damaged forms, reports, macros and modules. In such a case you do not need to panic as your lost data can still be recovered if you use good recovery software like “Advanced Access Recovery” to restore all the corrupt items in the database.
Finding corrupt data in the MDB file is not a difficult task, you can easily determine which item is corrupt by trying to open it. If it shows an error more than once after you try to open, you can be sure of that the file has gone corrupt. In such a scenario you need to replace the file with a backup file, if you have created one. Else you have to run the compact and repair utility.
As already mentioned the “Compact and Repair” utility is not able to restore all the damaged items and in such a case you may feel lost. Fortunately, to take care of your problem there are many access recovery software available in the market. An effective recovery software currently in the market is “Advanced Access Recovery” which can repair MDB files with ease and with its high end scanning mechanisms it can repair even badly damaged MDB files.