Maximum File size in XP Pro

N

Neil

I hae an Access2 Database program and the main db is now
over 700Mb. I could copy it as a backup last week, but now
I cant. The file grows daily through usage and input by
about 15Mb per day, but this hasn't been the case since
1st September. Is there some limitation or recognition
problem for XPPro with database files of this size? It
produces a CRC error when attempted to copy.
 
D

David Candy

There is a 2 GB limit that probably doesn't apply. Apart from that it is very large. A CRC error means the file on disk (or a very small part of it) is different to what it should be, eg corrupted.

Access can repair databases. It may be able to repair yours. Else use your backup to restore a non corrupted copy.

MORE INFORMATION
Although the steps outlined in this article are usually successful in recovering damaged database files, to safeguard your data, you should create a backup copy of your database file as often as you can.

The Repair and Compact Utilities
The Repair Utility
The Repair utility can fix databases with certain types of damage. It tries to repair only the tables, queries, and indexes in the database. It does not try to repair damaged forms, reports, macros, or modules; it does, however, copy them to the new, repaired database.

IMPORTANT: Run the Repair Database command only when the Microsoft Jet database engine returns an error message indicating that the Repair should be run. The Repair Database command should not be run under any other circumstances.
Compact Utility
The Compact utility eliminates empty space in an existing database. It does so by creating a new destination database and copying each object in the old database to the new one. If you choose to compact the database into the original database name instead of to a new database, the Compact utility creates a temporary database, exports all the objects from the original database into the temporary database, removes the original database, and then renames the temporary database to the original database's name.

IMPORTANT: Compacting the database often is the best preventive maintenance for a .mdb file. The following is a list of actions the Compact utility performs.
a.. Reorganizes a table's pages so that they reside in adjacent database pages. This improves performance because the table is no longer fragmented across the database.


b.. Reclaims unused space that is created by object and record deletions. When objects or records are deleted from the database, the space they occupied is marked as available for new additions to the database. However, the size of the database never shrinks unless the database is compacted. For databases in which objects and records are frequently added, deleted, and updated, you should compact frequently.


c.. Resets incrementing AutoNumber fields so that the next value that is allocated will be one more than the highest value in the remaining records. For example, if all records in the database have been deleted, after compacting the database, the value in the AutoNumber field will be 1 when the next record is added. If the highest remaining AutoNumber value in the database is 50, after compacting, the value will then be 51 when the next record is added. Note that this is true even if records containing values higher than 50 were added previously but were deleted prior to compacting.


d.. Regenerates the table statistics used in the query optimization process. These statistics can become out-of-date over time, typically if transactions were rolled back, or if the database was not properly closed because of power loss or failure to completely quit the program using Microsoft Jet before you turned the computer off.


e.. Flags all queries so that they will be recompiled the next time that the query is run. This is important because database statistics can change and a previously compiled query may have an inaccurate query plan.


Important Guidelines for Compacting a Database
Before compacting a database, the following conditions must be met:

The user compacting the database must be logged on using an account that has Modify Design or Administer security permissions for all tables in the database.

Sufficient disk space must exist for both the original and compacted versions of the database, even if the database is being compacted through the Microsoft Access user interface using the same file name. The compacted database is renamed as the original database only when compacting is successful.

Other users must not have the database open. When a database is compacted, it has to be open exclusively by Microsoft Jet to prevent any users from accessing and modifying the database during the process.
 
B

Bob Harris

XP itself has no fixed file size limit. If the disk partitions are FAT32
and on an machine running XP, there is a limit of 4 Gig for any one file.
Older windows version may have a limit of 2 Gig per file. But, if the
partitions are NTFS, then there is not limit (or it is above the size of any
disk made today). I personally have files as large as 5 Gig and XP is happy
to copy them.

A CRC error often means a bad file, and/or a bad disk, and/or a
confused/overworked PC, and/or a very busy network.

You might try copying the file from a command prompt, using the
old-fashioned "COPY" command. Be sure to include the /V option (V means
verify after the copy has completed).
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top