How do I read a corrupted Access file?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:58 pmDue to hardware problems, I'm fighting with some corrupted files 
(I've pretty well given up trying to read from the damaged hard drive).
One of these is an Access database which Access(XP) cannot open. The suggested fix is to create a new DB and import the tables and queries. However, this only results in the same error message when trying to import these structures.
I had a look at the file with a hex editor, and most of the information seems to be present. It's a bit hard to tell, because only strings (ASCII or UTF8/Unicode) stand out and information items such as date/time or running numbers aren't apparent.
Does anyone know about a recovery tool that can extract tables and queries from a damaged MDB file? I'm not worried about forms, reports or other stuff, just the data tables. Failing that, a description of the file format would allow me to try and "repair" it or build a Perl script to read this information selectively.
Thanks
G
(I've pretty well given up trying to read from the damaged hard drive).
One of these is an Access database which Access(XP) cannot open. The suggested fix is to create a new DB and import the tables and queries. However, this only results in the same error message when trying to import these structures.
I had a look at the file with a hex editor, and most of the information seems to be present. It's a bit hard to tell, because only strings (ASCII or UTF8/Unicode) stand out and information items such as date/time or running numbers aren't apparent.
Does anyone know about a recovery tool that can extract tables and queries from a damaged MDB file? I'm not worried about forms, reports or other stuff, just the data tables. Failing that, a description of the file format would allow me to try and "repair" it or build a Perl script to read this information selectively.
Thanks
G
and I'll do so in the future.
). Essentially it involves using Excel/MS-Query to access the DB, importing the tables one by one into a worksheet and then importing the data from Excel into a new Access-DB. This apparently avoids enough of the consistency tests to let you read the tables!