Recovery of a damaged access .mdb file

M

Marcus Fox

Hi,

Got your address from google groups, and was hoping you could help. The
problem is as follows.

I used to back up my SMS messages using a program called Nokia PC Suite.
Today, the program gives an error message about files being corrupted, and
the necessity to re-install. The error only occurs in the SMS archive part
of the program.

After re-install (thinking I've lost my archive) I get the same error. So it
isn't PC Suite that's the problem. After some investigation, I find that PC
suite archives it's SMS in a file called SmsDB.mdb. Opening this file in
Word Pad reveals this is the archive, but everything is jumbled. The file
will not open in Access, gives an error message.

On copying the file and deleting the original source, and then re-installing
PC Suite, I find that PC Suite makes a new copy of SmsDB.mdb which does open
in Access, and the archive feature works again for new messages.

However, I'd like access to my original archive. The error I get when I try
to open SmsDB.mdb is "The Microsoft Jet Engine stopped the process because
you and another user attempting to change the data at the same time". I'm
the only user, and I get the same error in Safe Mode. Googling, and the way
PC Suite was running makes me think that the archive is corrupted in some
way. Following the steps taken on Microsoft's Knowledgebase did not fix the
problem. Is it possible to fix?

Many thanks if you can help.

Marcus
 
V

Van T. Dinh

MAKE a BACK-UP of the database file, even corrupted!

Close the database then go to the directory where the MDB file resides. Do
you see a file with name SmsDB.LDB (note the extension LDB).

If you see the LDB file, delete it (DON'T delete the MDB file). You can
then try opening the database again.

Notes:
* The above may not work ... If it doesn't, see Tony Toews' Web site for
more info.

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruptmdbs.htm

* DON'T use software such as Word, Excel, ... to open an MDB file. IIRC,
using Word (or is it WordPad???) to open an MDB file will corrupt the
database file!
 
M

Marcus Fox

Van T. Dinh said:
MAKE a BACK-UP of the database file, even corrupted!

Close the database then go to the directory where the MDB file resides. Do
you see a file with name SmsDB.LDB (note the extension LDB).

If you see the LDB file, delete it (DON'T delete the MDB file). You can
then try opening the database again.

Notes:
* The above may not work ... If it doesn't, see Tony Toews' Web site for
more info.

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruptmdbs.htm

* DON'T use software such as Word, Excel, ... to open an MDB file. IIRC,
using Word (or is it WordPad???) to open an MDB file will corrupt the
database file!
Click to expand...

Well, I already opened it in Word Pad before I read this to see if it was
the contents, so perhaps that's too late. It wouldn't open in Access anyway.
There is no LDB file. I am working on backups to try to see what data I can
get out of it using Word Pad, but although the text is there, the dates are
missing.

Thanks,

Marcus
 
J

John Vinson

Marcus Fox said:
Well, I already opened it in Word Pad before I read this to see if it was
the contents, so perhaps that's too late. It wouldn't open in Access anyway.
There is no LDB file. I am working on backups to try to see what data I can
get out of it using Word Pad, but although the text is there, the dates are
missing.
Click to expand...

If it's not to late... STOP!!!!!

An Access database IS NOT A DOCUMENT. Trying to read it with Wordpad is like
trying to repair a watch with a sledgehammer. *It will destroy it*.

You can use VBA from an Excel macro, or a wide variety of other techniques;
or (better) follow the instructions on Tony's website to salvage it so that
Access can read it.
 
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