It is obviously preferable to take steps that will prevent any corruption in Access database. However, given that there is just one single MDB file that contains all the data as well as forms and reports, there is a greater risk of the file getting corrupted. If you have to deal with a corrupt MDB file, our article will help you easily recover data from the file.
If you do not work with a shared database, you might have avoided corruption in the MDB file by taking some preventive measures like avoiding sudden power loss while working with an open database and making sure that you shut down Access properly at all times. Nevertheless, it is never easy to predict when an MDB file might get corrupted because of hardware or software failures. While errors due to software failures might be resolved by using the Compact and Repair utility, hardware failures might be more difficult to resolve. We will look at some simple ways to recover Access data from a damaged MDB file.
Before you start the recovery process, make sure that you take a backup of the MDB file. It is possible that the Access database gets more corrupt during the recovery process and if you have the latest backup copy of the database, you should still be able to restore some data from it, rather than having to lose all your valuable data. Remember to make a copy of the file after closing the Access database properly and also without overwriting any of the previous backups. This will give you a better chance of trying different approaches and various combinations to recover Access data to the maximum.
The first step is to run the Compact-and-Repair utility that is built-in with Microsoft Access. This tool works very well when the damage is limited and is due to software failures. It can help resolve most of the errors, may work with corrupted indexes and in fact, might even help repair a corrupted interface object.
Other objects wherein corruption is likely to occur are in the interface objects such as forms and reports. If you are trying to develop them and the code in their modules, they are likely to get corrupted once in a while. It is best to import the data and the other objects into a new database. While importing, you will receive information on which form or reports are corrupted so that you can simply replace them from your backups.
If the Compact and Repair utility is not successful in resolving the errors in your MDB file and your data has been corrupted, it is possible that you are not even able to access the database. This kind of damage is typically caused due to hardware problems and can prove difficult to handle. It might seem impossible to recover Access data from such a severely damaged file but new repair tools have now made it easy to prevent data loss from such databases as well.
For example, one of the leading Access recovery tools in the industry today is Advanced Access Recovery from DataNumen. With one of the best recovery rates as compared to all other Access recovery tools, Advanced Access Recovery recovers not just all the records from a damaged database but restores them in the original structure. Further, it can also recover deleted tables and records, ensuring that you do not have to worry about data loss from any corruption in the MDB file.