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How to Reduce the Risk of Corruption in Access MDB Files

Corruption in MDB files is a known issue to Microsoft Access users. This corruption can be caused by a variety of factors ranging from software failures, hardware problems, network issues as well as virus attacks. While regular backups will ensure that your data loss is minimized, allowing corruption to go unattended will only make matters worse and may even make the MDB file completely inaccessible. In such a situation, it is possible that you may lose some or more vital Access data. It is therefore crucial that users understand exactly what are the main factors that could cause corruption in MDB files; the measures that they need to take in order to avoid corruption and the tools available to repair MDB files in case of excess damage.

The main causes of corruption in MDB files are as follows:

·        Not quitting Access properly ' It is very important that whenever you are done using Access, you quit it properly by using either the Close or Exit option from the main File menu. If the database you have been working on is still open, it means that it may still be writing data and if you close Access abnormally during a write operation, you are more than likely to have caused some damage to it. In fact, the Jet database engine invariably marks an MDB file as suspect if the file was open when Access was suddenly shut down. Some of the situations in which Access could be shut off improperly are when there are sudden power outages resulting in a forcible computer shut down or when the computer is manually switched off without first properly shutting down Windows.

·        Problems in Networking Hardware - Problems in the network hardware such as network cabling, interface cards, hubs or routers could cause corruption in the MDB file.

If an MDB file is marked as suspect, Access will notify you the next time you try opening the file and will offer to repair MDB files before you try working on them.

Some of the key steps you could take to ensure that corruption in MDB files can be avoided are:

·        Use an uninterrupted power supply while working on databases. Sudden power outages can cause major problems in the MDB files, especially during database writes.

·        Avoid any improper termination of Access ' this could be caused due to manual shutdowns, sudden power loss, using the Task Manager to end the process and so on.

·        If you are receiving fatal system errors, it is vital that you immediately resolve the problems leading to these errors before the MDB file becomes so damaged that traditional repair tools will not be able to repair MDB files.