Microsoft Access provides a very powerful tool to repair a corrupted Access database. The Compact and Repair utility helps users to quickly repair MDB files that have suffered from some corruption. However, it is not as successful while repairing severely damaged MDB files. Rather than risk losing important data from Access database, it is best to take steps that will help avoid Access database corruption.
Having to deal with a corrupt Access database can be quite frustrating. You have to first confirm that the errors you are facing are due to a corrupt database, fix the source of the problem and then most importantly repair the database so that no data is lost. If the corruption is slight and you have been able to catch it in time, you might be able to repair it quickly using the Compact and Repair utility that Microsoft Access provides. On the other hand, if the damage is severe, you may have to turn to a third-party product such as DataNumen Access Repair from DataNumen to repair Access and recover all the data. Nevertheless, you may still have to spend time rebuilding the database and re-entering some of the data. A more prudent strategy would be to take steps that will help you avoid Access database corruption in the first place. Here are some tips that will assist you in doing exactly that.
- Working with a split database is a good strategy to avoid any loss of the main data. If you are planning on having a shared database, it is recommended that you split your database into two. One piece will be the backend where you can store all your vital data in the form of tables. The other will be the front end that actually holds your forms and reports used to access the data. Since Microsoft Access actually comes with a wizard that takes you through the splitting process, step by step, you should certainly get into the habit of using a shared database by splitting it.
Since the main data and the objects used to interface with the data are now separate, even if there is any corruption in the front end, you can easily repair Access by simply replacing the front-end from the latest backup. Further, users are not allowed to easily modify the data thereby reducing the risk of the back-end getting corrupted or of losing any data.
- When your Access database runs a lot of complex queries, Access may prefer to create some temporary data of which you may never come to know. At times, such queries may also result in Access working more slowly than normal and may cause damage to the backend. It would be advisable to consider creating some temporary tables where the temporary data will be written. Not only does this help in speeding up the queries but consequently it also helps avoid corruption in the backend and having to repair Access.
- You could also consider storing all the temporary tables in a back-end. If your database often creates temporary tables that are deleted after use, you might use a separate backend database to prevent the main backend from getting too big.
Despite taking all these precautions, if you still end up with a corrupt database that the Compact and Repair utility cannot handle, you should use specialized third-party tools such as DataNumen Access Repair to quickly restore all the important data.