Using inappropriate version of Jet database engine may damage MDB file in Access 2000

Microsoft Jet Database Engine is the database engine upon which the Access databases are designed on. It contains the various algorithms to store, manage, and access database. However, at times due to various upgrades the database gets corrupt and you are unable to carry out certain tasks. Such situations can make the database very vulnerable as well. You should try out appropriate methods to repair MDB file. If you are unable to do so, then I would recommend you to use a third-party MDB file repair software to repair Access database.

Let us take a scenario wherein you are working on an MS Access 2000 database. In this database, you have made few changes in a database object. When you try to save the changes, it does not happen so. An error message is displayed in this regard, which is:

“The search key was not found in any record.”

The object may get to save the Database window. However, when you try to open the window the following error message is displayed:

“The Microsoft Jet database engine cannot find the object. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and path name correctly.”

Cause:
Such abnormal behavior of Access database can be exhibited because of the following reasons:
•You have created the database using the Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 4 or earlier version using a workgroup file. However, you are currently using the workgroup file with Microsoft Jet 4.0 Service Pack 5.
•After having installed Windows 2000 SP2 or applying Jet 4.0 SP5 in your system, you have tried to secure the database using the User Level Security Wizard. In this wizard, you have selected the option to create a new workgroup file.

Resolution:
To resolve this problem, you should try to download and install the latest version of Jet 4.0 service pack. Try to reproduce the steps that invoked the error last time. If the problem is still persisting, then the MDB file is damaged. In such cases, you should try to use a third-party MDB file repair software to recover Access database. With the use of highly sophisticated scanning algorithms in a highly interactive user interface, such MDB repair tools ensure that the recovery of MDB files is safe and easy.

Steps to Follow if MS Access File Giving Fatal System Error Instead of Opening

MS Office Access is a highly reliable database management system that enables users to create tables, queries, reports and forms. It allows users to import and export information in different formats and can be linked to data for running queries and creating reports. But with all the functions that it performs, it is likely to fail at times, causing the operating system or the application to stop responding. This may lead to corruption or damage of the file. In order to handle it, Access repair solutions are required. This may include using backup to repair Access, or using Access file repair software.

Consider, you receive a fatal system error while opening Microsoft Office Access 2003, which prevents Access from responding. To get going, you will need to follow the undermentioned steps to recover data from the file:

•Try to use the Compact and Repair utility to open the file, instead of directly opening it. The system tries to repair the file using in built repair feature. If this doesn't solve the problem, read the next step.
•Try to import the file into a new database file. But make sure you do not import all the objects in one go. This way, you'll be able to identify the problem objects and repair them. Reference to libraries and projects will have to be added later.
•Another thing worth checking is, if the problem is with the application or database. Open the database on another system. Also, check if another database is opening on your system or not.
•Sometimes, memory conflicts prevent opening the database. This can be checked by opening the file by running the system in Safe Mode.
•Temporary files too lead to a lot of problem and should be removed regularly. In fact, if you run the Disk Cleanup utility, you will be able to see and remove the temporary files, Internet cache files and unnecessary program files.
•Perform disk defragmentation tool and error checking tool should also be run to prevent such problems.
•At times, virtual memory setting is too low on the computer. Change the virtual memory settings for your hard disk.
•If no other thing works, use the last updated copy of your database file to repair Access document.
•In the absence of backup, you have Access recovery software to help you recover all your inaccessible data.

Eliminating 'Unrecognized database format' Access 2003 error

An MDB file is associated with Microsoft Access, a database management system provided by Microsoft. However, the introduction of Access 2007 brings a new file format known as ACCDB. An MDB file is quite prone to corruption problems. It can become corrupt due to varied reasons (both software and hardware) including data storage device failure, faulty networking device, incorrect file system recovery write operation abort and others. In typical MDB corruption scenarios, Access behaves strangely and might throw various error messages. This particular article demystifies one of the frequently-faced error messages and makes you familiar with the possible causes and MDB repair strategies to be followed.

Consider a situation, wherein, you have an important Access 2003 database. When you make an attempt to mount it, you may fail and receive the following error message:

Unrecognized database format 'filename.mdb'

The error code for the above message is 3343.

Cause
Microsoft Access reports the above error message if it is unable to read database definition page. To elaborate, an MDB file comprises of several pages with a fixed size. The database definition page is the first page and records vital database definitions.

If you have an MDB file with a damaged page structure, then Access will not be able to read or recognize the pages and throw the above error message. In a nutshell, in absence of a valid page structure, Access will not be able to recognize an MDB file and you would encounter an error.

Resolution
The error message can be eliminated if you fix the corrupt MDB file and its page structure by employing effective MDB file repair strategies. Here is what you can do:

•Compact and Repair: This inbuilt utility ensures that your database file doesn't overgrow in size and remain free of errors.
•Backup: You can use a backup copy of the database to get rid off the error message surfacing due to corruption.
•Third-party software: If no reliable or valid backup is available, you must download and use a professional access recovery application. Such tools eliminate all corruption errors and help you recover a usable Access database file.

Repairing MDB file that is displaying abnormal behavior in MS Access 2007

A table in the MS Access database consists of rows and columns, which is a collection of records to hold information together. For faster searching and updating records, there are indexes created in the tables that keep the information just like the index of a book. However, at times the table indexes get corrupt due to which you are unable to operate on the tables as needed. Such cases arise due to several reasons such as virus infections, abrupt or unplanned system shutdown, hardware corruption, etc. In such cases, you should try out measures to rectify the problem. If the measures are not sufficient, then there is a strong case of using a third-party MDB repair software to repair MDB file.

Consider a situation in which you are working on a table in MS Access 2007. In this table, you are sorting the data, but it is displaying different number of records every time.

Cause:
The root cause of this problem is that the table indexes have got corrupt. Due to which, you are experiencing such abnormal behavior.

Resolution:
To address this problem, you should perform the following steps:
•Open the problem database.
•Click Database Tools | Relationships and delete any relationships that the database table is involved in.
•Open the database table in design view.
•Open the Indexes box and delete all the indexes.
•Save and close the table.
•Select the table from the Nav Pane.
•Copy and paste the table, by providing a different name, and by selecting 'Structure only' option.
•Design a test query in the problem table to check all the records in the table.
•Modify the query to an Append query and run it.
•After verifying all the data in the new Access database, delete the old table.
•Compact the database to remove all the references to the old table. This could be done using Office button | Manage | Compact.
•Rename the new table as the name of the old table.
•Recreate the previous indexes and relationships.
•Now, check the table if the problem is appearing again or not.

If the error is not resolved, it means that the Access database is corrupt and you need to repair MDB file. For this, you would need an efficient and reliable MDB file repair software. The use of extremely safe and sound scanning techniques means that the Access database would be repaired without any damage to the existing MDB file.