Vital Steps to Preventing Corruption in Access MDB Files
When you are working with Microsoft Access, you may come across an error message that your co-worker informs you is an indication that the MDB file you are working with is corrupt. While this may sound like a serious issue, there are many ways in which you can easily fix the problems in the MDB file. Essentially, a corrupt database is one that has lost some of its functionality due to which there is a danger of losing important Access data. While you should certainly get to know the repair utilities that Access provides to repair these databases, it is more important that you know the preventive steps you can take to avoid corruption in MDB files in the first place so that you do not have to resort to Access recovery measures.
Corruption in an Access database can be due to any of the following factors or because of a combination of them.
· The database has been poorly designed due to which after a few days of constant use, some functionality starts to develop flaws leading to corruption of the MDB file.
· There may be more number of users accessing and manipulating the database than what has been allowed for.
· Sudden power outages.
· System crashes or network interruptions when the database is still in the process of writing data.
· Not downloading and installing the latest service pack that would offer better security for the MDB file.
More often than not, Access marks files that have been subject to any of the above factors as suspect and offers to carry out an Access recovery the next time you try to open the file.
As a user of Microsoft Access, you would be aware that a database has many components; the data related objects such as tables, indexes, queries, etc. and the interface objects such as forms, reports, macros and modules. When an MDB file becomes corrupted, the problems may lie in the data objects or the interface objects. Typically, the in-built Repair tool of Access does not carry out any repair of interface objects but is capable of restoring data objects.
Two common causes of database corruption are-
- Poor database design ' If a database has been designed so as to efficiently make use of all the computer resources and allow for smooth manipulation of data, then the chances of errors in the database are highly reduced.
- Fragmented database ' When any records or tables are deleted from the database, the space is marked as available for any new records. They do not result in any reduction in the size of the database. In fact, unless the empty space is made better use of, there could be a lot of wastage of space and more importantly, there could be enormous fragmentation throughout the database. Periodically compacting your database will ensure that there are no fragmented data or indexes as also that there are no unpredictable queries or unreliable records which could cause corruption in your database.
