Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

[Upendra Agnihotram]

Hi,

I am having Client-Server Access application. The source db resides on
WinNT Server and some of the client systems are on Windows 2000
Professional. These days i am experiencing frequent corruption of the
source database (nearly 3 to 4 times a day) which is on NT Machine?.
Please let me know if there is any solution for this

--Upendra
Software Support Engineer

[Brendan Reynolds]

Re: Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

When it happens that frequently, I'd be inclined to suspect the oplocks
(Opportunistic Locking) issue. This and other possible causes are described
in the following KB article ...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303528&Product=acc

--
Brendan Reynolds

"Upendra Agnihotram" <upendra_agni@h otmail.com> wrote in message
news:9e61f668.0 403050234.1f570 b72@posting.goo gle.com...[color=blue]
> Hi,
>
> I am having Client-Server Access application. The source db resides on
> WinNT Server and some of the client systems are on Windows 2000
> Professional. These days i am experiencing frequent corruption of the
> source database (nearly 3 to 4 times a day) which is on NT Machine?.
> Please let me know if there is any solution for this
>
> --Upendra
> Software Support Engineer[/color]

[Tom van Stiphout]

Re: Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

On 5 Mar 2004 02:34:34 -0800, upendra_agni@ho tmail.com (Upendra
Agnihotram) wrote:

If this developed rather abruptly, it could very well be faulty
network equipment. Access is VERY sensitive to momentary interruptions
of network connectivity. One bad cable or bad NIC can do this.

-Tom.

[color=blue]
>Hi,
>
>I am having Client-Server Access application. The source db resides on
>WinNT Server and some of the client systems are on Windows 2000
>Professional . These days i am experiencing frequent corruption of the
>source database (nearly 3 to 4 times a day) which is on NT Machine?.
>Please let me know if there is any solution for this
>
>--Upendra
>Software Support Engineer[/color]

[David W. Fenton]

Re: Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

Tom van Stiphout <tom7744@no.spa m.cox.net> wrote in
news:fn2h40laef pv0bmg5oqgqpbre e5f2sc4me@4ax.c om:
[color=blue]
> If this developed rather abruptly, it could very well be faulty
> network equipment[/color]

Or it could be caused by a hotfix or patch on the server.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

[David W. Fenton]

Re: Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

upendra_agni@ho tmail.com (Upendra Agnihotram) wrote in
news:9e61f668.0 403050234.1f570 b72@posting.goo gle.com:
[color=blue]
> I am having Client-Server Access application. . . .[/color]

Meaning an MDB file connected to SQL Server?

Or an MDB front end and an MDB back end?

If the latter, then Client/Server is not involved.
[color=blue]
> . . . The source db . . .[/color]

The data MDB or the front end that the users are opening?
[color=blue]
> resides on WinNT Server and some of the client systems are on
> Windows 2000 Professional. These days i am experiencing frequent
> corruption of the source database (nearly 3 to 4 times a day)
> which is on NT Machine?. Please let me know if there is any
> solution for this[/color]

First, the application should be split, with the data MDB on the
server and an individual copy of the front MDB on each workstation.
Until that's the case, everything else is a waste of time.

Second, make sure that all workstations have Jet 4 SP6 or higher
(you don't say what version of Access, but problems mostly happen
with A2K and higher; also, Jet 4 SP8 is OK, too; if it's A97, then
you should have Jet 3.51 SP3), and the Access installations should
all be at SR1a or later if it's A2K and at SR2 if it's A97.

If it's A2K2 or A2K3, I don't know what the service release
situation is.

Brendan pointed out the oplocks issue, but in my experience, it's
not likely to help.

And for what it's worth, I had a client with all Win2K workstations
working with A2K data stored on an NT 4 server and there were never
any problems *once the Jet service packs and Access service releases
were in place on all workstations*. And it's *all* workstations --
even one workstation that is unpatched can cause the corruption.

I would not start worrying about hardware issues until all these
previous issues have been resolved.

Why?

Because, in general, working hardware doesn't tend to fail in a way
that would spontaneously start causing corruption. The problem is
much more likely to be a software issue, and the server is the
common point and the first place to start diagnosing.

Of course, if the workstations have automatic Windows Update in
place, they could all have gotten a patch that is causing the
problem.

Or it could be Norton Antivirus updates or some such.

But start by making sure your Access application architecture and
Access software infrastructure is in order before wading into the
muck on these other issues.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

[Tony Toews]

Re: Frequent Corruption of Ms Access Database

upendra_agni@ho tmail.com (Upendra Agnihotram) wrote:
[color=blue]
>I am having Client-Server Access application. The source db resides on
>WinNT Server and some of the client systems are on Windows 2000
>Professional . These days i am experiencing frequent corruption of the
>source database (nearly 3 to 4 times a day) which is on NT Machine?.
>Please let me know if there is any solution for this[/color]

You've already received some excellent suggestions. I'd definitely look into the
OpLocks issue first though as that's a simple thing to check and is software only.

You must give each of the users their own copy of the FE.

For more information on corruption including possible causes, determining the
offending PC, retrieving your data, links, official MS KB articles and a list of
vendors who state they can fix corruption see the Microsoft Access Corruption FAQ at

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

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
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