Possible corrupted database

[Guest]

A user has reported 'strange characters' appearing on a form. I looked at it
and the very last record has what looks like Chinese characters in several
controls. If I go to any other record, all looks ok. On the bad record, the
field which displays the primary key is blank. I looked at the table the form
is bound to and don't see anything amiss except one record where the primary
key is zero. The primary key is user set and not an autonumber. The database
always opens as read-only and will not display the linked table manager (its
grayed out). I cannot do a compact and repair. Any ideas on how to proceed
welcome.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Can you get a query to work that returns all but that bad row? If so, you
could use that to create a new table with valid data, then delete the bad
table (this is a bit backwards, but it sounds like you are not able to
simply delete that one back record).

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

A user has reported 'strange characters' appearing on a form. I looked at
it
and the very last record has what looks like Chinese characters in several
controls. If I go to any other record, all looks ok. On the bad record,
the
field which displays the primary key is blank. I looked at the table the
form
is bound to and don't see anything amiss except one record where the
primary
key is zero. The primary key is user set and not an autonumber. The
database
always opens as read-only and will not display the linked table manager
(its
grayed out). I cannot do a compact and repair. Any ideas on how to proceed
welcome.

The record is most definitely corrupt. First make several copies of the
entire database file. Always work on a copy of the database. Working on the
original may make it impossible for a repair service to fix it. Hopefully
you can just delete the record, then compact. If not, try Jeff's suggestion.
You can also:

Download a copy of JetComp.exe:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;273956

Also have a look at the Microsoft KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;209137

Then have a look at Tony Toews' Access Corruption FAQ at:

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

for some suggestions. Unfortunately, some corruption cannot be fixed - you
may need to create a new database, import what can be salvaged, and recreate
the rest.

Although it's a paid service, Peter Miller does an outstanding job of saving
corrupt databases. Try this URL:

http://www.pksolutions.com