Unrecognized database format

[Knowlton]

I have a split database where the data file is located on the server and the program is located on individual workstations. We are getting the following error message on all machines when we try to open the program

"Unrecogniz ed database format '\\RWT-FILESERVER\Publ ic\Documents\RW T\Documents\Com pany Database\Compan y Data.mdb'

We cannot open it on the server itself either. Can anyone offer suggestions as to how to fix this? This is main database for our company.

Thanks

[twinnyfo]

Have you recently had a software upgrade? the .mdb files are for a very much older version of MS Access. There should hav ebeen some form of upgrade performed along the way....

Are you able to copy the file to a local machine and try to open it locally?

[NeoPa]

If you aren't doing regular backups then you should be. Any commercial enterprise that doesn't nowadays is not being run by professionals. That's a given.

If you are, then the obvious answer, if Compact & Repair fails, is to revert to your latest working backup.

If you haven't been taking regular backups until now then you'll probably be going through a painful learning curve right now. Make sure you never experience any such situation ever again.

If you really haven't got a usable backup and C&R actually doesn't work to recover your database then there are commercial (paid for) services that you can find that *may* be able to recover some or all of your data.

Good luck.

PS. For anyone else who may be tempted to post links to commercial software in here, please be warned your account will be banned as soon as this is noticed by the first of our moderators who sees it.

[Seth Schrock]

I recently had this happen and I just had to open the backend database and it said that it was in an inconsistent state and needed to do something to fix it. When I clicked OK, it did its thing (including a backup) and then it worked fine from the front end.

[NeoPa]

Hi Seth.

"It's thing" included a Compact & Repair. In most cases that does the trick. You don't need to try to open it first, but that's certainly one way of getting the C&R to run.