Precautionary Measures to Take While Repairing an MDB File

The Compact and Repair utility is not merely a repair tool, as many users believe it to be. It is very useful in ensuring that the MDB file makes efficient use of disk space, helps in keeping the size of the MDB file to an optimum level and helps in identifying errors in the database when they are still at a manageable level. One can either run the Compact and Repair tool when Access suspects some file to be corrupted or one could manually run the tool on a regular basis to avoid major problems later. Either way, this tool is one of the best ways of ensuring a smooth access recovery if the file does get damaged any time.

It is very easy to locate and run the Compact and Repair tool allowing users to quickly repair the Access file. However, before beginning any Compact and Repair operation, it is important to take some steps to ensure that there is no major loss of data.

" It is important that before you start the repair process, a complete backup of the Access file is made. Sometimes, the repair process ends up truncating some data from the tables that are found to be damaged. In such situations, you might be able to conduct a more effective access recovery if you had a backup of the original file. While a regular backup strategy is always recommended, you should certainly take a backup before you run the Compact and Repair tool. It is very easy to do so - just use the Back Up Database command.
" Rather than wait for Access to indicate to you that the Access file is damaged and you may need to run the Compact and Repair tool, you should set your database so that it automatically runs this tool whenever you close the database. This may not work if you are sharing the database file with other users over a network. However, if you are the sole user of the database, this setting will save you a lot of trouble by identifying minor problems in the Access file and carrying out an access recovery before they start affecting the records or the performance of Access.
" In order to use the Compact and Repair Database tool, you will need exclusive access to the MDB file. If you are the only user accessing and modifying the database, this is not a concern. However, if there are other users who may using the database, you will have to obtain exclusive access to the database so that others are not modifying the database when you are running the Compact and Repair tool.
" In addition to the Compact and Repair tool, you should also familiarize yourself with powerful, third-party options such as Advanced Access Repair from DataNumen. Created by experts who have had years of experience in recovering data from damaged MDB files, this tool will help you recover all the data from a file that the Compact and Repair tool is unable to fix.